Cracker Barrel Earnings Dip; Reports Weak Outlook (CBRL)

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (CBRL) shares dropped over 4% on Wednesday morning after the company reported lower fourth quarter earnings and a weak outlook for its first quarter.

The Lebanon, TN-based company reported fourth quarter earnings of $34.3 million, or $1.43 per share, down slightly from $34.7 million, or $1.47 per share, a year ago. On average, analysts expected to see earnings of $1.35 per share.

Total revenue fell to $646.1 million from $700.01 million last year. Analysts expected to see revenue of $668.68 million.

Cracker Barrel President and CEO Sandra Cochran commented: “The fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 represents the seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in comparable store traffic, restaurant sales, and retail sales. The financial results of the fourth quarter and full year reflect the effective execution of our strategic plan. As we begin our 2014 fiscal year, we are poised to capitalize on the achievements of fiscal 2013.”

For FY2013, CBRL’s earnings rose 14% to $117.27 million, while EPS rose to $4.90 per share. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $4.97 per share, up 15% from the year prior. Total revenue for the year was $2.64 billion, up 3% from a year ago.

Looking forward, the company expects to see first quarter earnings between $1.05 and $1.15 per share. This estimate would fall significantly below the average analyst estimate of $1.32 per share.

For FY2014, the company expects EPS in the range of $5.60 to $5.80 and revenue between $2.7 billion and $2.75 billion. Analysts expect to see earnings of $5.69 per share and $2.74 billion in revenue.

Cracker Barrel shares were down $4.70, or 4.39%, during Wednesday morning trading. The stock is up 59% YTD.

Take a Look at This Rising Sector for Your Portfolio

Providers of flow technology equipment and systems are largely on track for improved performances this year and in 2014. It is a good bet that their stock prices are likely to follow.

These companies manufacture processing products used by industries such as food and beverages, oil & gas, and wastewater treatment, among others. They serve a wide range of end markets that are mostly poised for increased earnings and are likely to spend on capital projects. While these positive trends persist, flow technology companies' prospects ought to remain favorable. Let's highlight several sector participants, starting with a top selection, SPX (NYSE: SPW),.

Poised for rapid EPS growth
SPX operates a flow technology segment that provided 53% of 2012 sales, according to the company's annual report. The unit supplies the food/beverage, oil &gas, power generation, and industrial flow markets. The company is experiencing rising demand overseas from the energy and food industries.

Moreover, SPX serves the power-generation market. Through its thermal segment, it is a major producer of power transformers. This power transformer business is high margined, and is an important component to review when analyzing the company's overall earnings trend.

In fact, SPX is benefiting from last year's expansion of a power transformer facility. Additionally, it appears the company's margins are gaining ground thanks to restructuring and other cost cutting initiatives.

Resulting margin expansion is helping SPX to outperform expectations, and the earnings per share outlook is solid. The only challenge, seemingly, is declining sales from its ClydeUnion original equipment pump business.

Some of the most attractive features of SPX as a long-term investment are:

It is focused on new-product development, a factor that should allow it to maintain or grow its market share. SPX is targeting expanded scale globally by way of organic projects and acquisitions. This is particularly within its flow technology business.

Based on these factors, SPX stock is a good selection for portfolios with a long-term outlook.

Increasing sales and margins
A second, even larger, flow technology company to consider is Flowserve (NYSE: FLS  ) . The company's flow control systems are utilized by a wide range of industries, led by oil & gas, chemicals, and power generation.

EPS improved to $1.51 during the first six months of 2013, up from $1.22 last year. This positive trend is likely to persist, behind spending across the globe on gas and chemical projects.

The favorable outlook is reflected in Flowserve's bookings, currently on the rise, particularly in its flow control division, where they were recently up about 10% according to the company's latest 10-Q. Furthermore, Flowserve is achieving gross margin improvements on a better mix of products and cost containment measures.

Flowserve, like many industrial companies, is dependent upon the timing of projects. That said, late 2013 should bring an increased number of projects. Plus, the company is taking initiatives to expand its presence in overseas regions, such as Asia, where opportunities are available given economic growth in the region.

In sum, Flowserve is likely to be a beneficiary of upturns in its key end markets. The company's EPS outlook is very favorable approaching late 2013 and 2014.

Thus, this may be a good opportunity to add Flowserve to a long-term focused portfolio.

Lastly, a growth company 
The third example of a thriving flow technologies company is IDEX  (NYSE: IEX  ) . This one is situated in a unique set of end markets, namely fluid & metering, health & science, and fire & safety/diversified.

Of these three segments, the first two are performing rather well in terms of sales and margins, allowing the company to post better results as a whole. Second-quarter EPS improved to $0.76, from $0.67 the prior year.

Catalysts playing a role in IDEX's earnings include:

Its fluid & metering segment is benefiting from a rebound in the liquefied petroleum gas market and rising global truck manufacturing. Also within the fluid division, there are food-processing market opportunities in overseas markets. The health & science unit is seeing gains from sales of scientific products, strength in orders, and acquisitions.

One aspect that makes this a growth company is its spending on acquisitions that are designed to build upon existing businesses, as well as boost its foothold in higher-growth end markets and geographies. This, along with product development, ought to allow it to thrive while market conditions are conducive to growth.

Accordingly, growth-focused investors may want to consider IDEX for their portfolios. The shares, recently at an all-time high, have positive momentum.

Summary
The best stock among these three, as stated, appears to be SPX. That company is involved in numerous expanding end markets and is initiating a sound long-term expansion strategy. 

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Energy stocks fall, end week 0.8% lower

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Energy stocks fell Friday, ending the week 0.8% lower and mirroring the broader equity markets's worries about the looming debt-ceiling deadline and the political impasse in Washington.

Wall Street was also concerned about consumer sentiment, at its lowest since April. Separately, the Commerce Department said Friday consumer spending rose 0.3% in August.

Major energy decliners on Friday included coal producer Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) , with shares down 2%. Southwestern Energy Co. (SWN)  shares fell 2.2%.

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN)  shares declined 1.3%.

5 Best Energy Stocks To Buy For 2014

A unit of Devon Energy, Devon Midstream Partners LP, filed plans for an initial public offering of up to $400 million. Proceeds will be used to reimburse Devon Energy for capital expenditures.

The partnership was formed by Devon to work on logistics, transport, and storage of natural gas for Devon Energy. The new company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DVNM.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)  fell 0.2%, while shares of Chevron Corp. (CVX)  were down 0.7%. ConocoPhillips (COP)  shares turned higher, however, ending up 0.1%.

Exxon said Friday it will extend benefits to same-sex spouses of U.S. employees. The company already extends same-sex benefits to employees in countries where local laws allow the marriages.

U.S.-listed shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A)  rose 0.1%.

Among a handful of gainers, Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC)  shares advanced 1.3%.

Marathon Petroleum's board approved an additional $2 billion for share buybacks, more than doubling the amount the company has set aside for repurchases.

"Our focus continues to be returning capital to our shareholders on a sustained basis while making value-enhancing investments in the business," Marathon Petroleum President and Chief Executive Gary R. Heminger said in a statement Thursday.

The refiner was spun off from Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO)  in 2011. Shares of Marathon Oil lost 1.1%.

The SPDR Energy Select Sector (XLE) , an exchange-traded fund focused on energy names, fell 0.4%.

Allocate enough in alts to make a difference

To make sure alternatives are making a difference in a client's portfolio, advisers should allocate between 10% and 20% of their entire investments in alts.

Nadia Papagiannis, director of alternatives fund research at Morningstar Inc., said any move int alts should start with an allocation of at least 5%, but in order to have any kind of real impact, that allocation should grow to at least 20%.

“Five percent is really not going to make a difference, but 20% will start to make a difference,” Ms. Papagiannis said as part of her presentation Monday at the InvestmentNews Alternatives Investments Conference in Chicago.

Steve Medina, head of global asset allocation and senior portfolio manager for John Hancock, said that if an investor is not at least 10% invested in alternatives, “you're not moving the dial. It should be upwards to 20%.”

“Different alternatives have different risk and return profiles,” Mr. Medina said. “Different alternatives behave differently. Know what you own. But how much is right for my portfolio? Own enough to make a difference.”

As part of a pre-conference presentation designed to provide a lay of the land with regard to alternatives investments, she told the audience of financial professionals to be diligent and to diversify into alternatives strategies.

“If I were doing it, I would pick an equity long-short strategy, a managed-futures strategy and a market-neutral strategy as a kind of bond substitute, and I would equal-weight them into the portfolio,” Ms. Papagiannis said. “Prior to 2008, a lot of investors were too heavy into equities, and now a lot of advisers are telling me their clients are too heavy into bonds.”

Best Penny Stocks To Watch Right Now

Mr. Medina's panel also discussed how advisers should fund the allocation. In the past, advisers would have considered reducing their exposure to equities because of the correlation between some hedge funds and stocks. But with the end of a 30-year bull market in bonds, advisers should think about funding alternatives investments by reducing clients' allocation to fixed income, one panelist said.

“We're taking money away from fixed income to fund hedge fund allocations,” said David Reichart, head of business development for the Principal Funds. “Historically, you would have taken it away from equities.”

Mr. Medina noted that funding for alternatives investments can also come from the adviser's “worst idea,” or area of the market he or sh! e dislikes the most in tha

The Hackett Group Is "Going Dutch": The Upside Potential In This Special Situation Is Worthy Of Note

The Dutchman Flies Again...

Special situations (including types of arbitrage and spin-off investing) often provide shrewd investors with significant returns not correlated with the performance of broader markets. In other words: this is the kind of stuff you need right now. In a period of low dividends, anemic fixed income yields, high equity prices and near term uncertainty - these types of situations can provide investors with insulation from volatility and a chance at realizing significant profit - if they are on the right side of the trade.

One such situation currently in the process of unfolding this month is a Dutch Tender by The Hackett Group (HCKT). I will briefly discuss the underlying business, what exactly a Dutch Auction (or in this case, a Tender) is, what options investors have when approaching this situation and how it could play out.

About the Business

Engaged in the Management Consulting industry, the Hackett group "provides advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services, including shared services, offshoring and outsourcing advice. The Company operates in the business and technology consulting services segment." Unsurprisingly, as a firm with a focus towards outsourcing, the Hackett group serves the North American and European geographic regions in addition, "through its REL group, Hackett offers working capital solutions focused on delivering cash flow improvements. Through its enterprise resource planning solutions group (ERP Solutions), Hackett offers business application consulting services that help maximize returns on information technology (IT) investments." Quoted material is courtesy of Google Finance.

As you might have noticed, outsourcing has proliferated in the past several decades and thus demand for services related to the intracicies of outsourcing has grown considerably. IT systems consulting is a likewise advantageous position to occupy right now - as there has been an explosion in technological integr! ation and business solution software. Hackett and its subsidiaries also provide services to streamline IT implimentation to maximize cash flow efficiency - an area which can often be a difficult field for companies to navigate on their own.

The Numbers on Hackett

This company is tiny, with a current market capitalization of slightly more than $200 million dollars. Currently priced at $6.51 with a book value of $3.17 per share, $10 million of cash on hand against $15 million of debt - investors are paying a premium for the company. Given the nature of the business (engaged in consulting and services and owning significant amounts of intangible, proprietary assets) - I believe that it is understandable to pay a premium for the stock given the unquantifiable nature of its assets. The company also comes at a reasonable P/E ratio of 14.34. The company also pays an annual dividend (recently instituted), currently yielding 1.51% - with a payout ratio of .21, a number that I believe indicates potential for future dividend increases - however with a high return on assets relative to risk free alternatives it is likewise acceptable for minority shareholders if the company maintains the level of current dividend payments. The companies free cash flow yield is also robust.

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What going "Dutch" Means

From Wikipedia:

"A Dutch auction offer specifies a price range within which the shares will ultimately be purchased. Shareholders are invited to tender their stock, if they desire, at any price within the stated range. The firm then compiles these responses, creating a supply curve for the stock. The purchase price is the lowest price that allows the firm to buy the number of shares sought in the offer, and the firm pays that price to all investors who tendered at or below that price."

The Terms of The Tender

The company has allotted $3! 7.5 Milli! on to repurchase shares at no higher than $6.50 per share and no lower than $5.75 per share. Dividing $6.50 into $37.5 Million indicates that at the highest price offered, the maximum amount of shares that the company can purchase is 5,769,230 or approximately 18.25% of the outstanding shares of the company.

How Might This Impact the Value?

Applying a 18.25% increase in share price to the amount of outstanding shares (as 18.25% of the outstanding float will become treasury stock, reducing the shares outstanding from 31.61 Million to 25.84 Million). If one multiplies 1.1825 by the price of the stock after retirement of shares into the treasury at around $6.50 per share, given the laws of supply and demand, the remaining shares will logically be worth 18.25% more than $6.50 - or approximately $7.69 per share. Assuming that the shares of the company are purchased at $6.50 per share, dividing the total dollar value of the transaction ($37,500,000) by the remaining outstanding shares (25,840,000) yields $1.45 per share of treasury stock. Adding this number to the purchase price of $6.50 per share equals a price of $7.95 after the tender offer has been concluded. These numbers, $7.69 and $7.95 are very similar.

If the tender goes through at a lower level, lets say at the midrange of the price offered - $6.125 - the company will be able to repurchase around 6.1 Million shares, leaving 25.5 million common shares outstanding and reducing the float by almost 20%. Multiplying 1.20 by the mid-range purchase price of $6.125 results in a price of $7.35 of the remaining common shares when adjusting for reduced float. Dividing $37,500,000 used for share repurchases into the outstanding shares in this scenario (25,500,000) indicates that $1.47 worth of treasury stock will be added to the shares of the company - Adding $1.47 to $6.125 equals $7.59 per share, a number which is again close to $7.35.

Wait a minute - Treasury Stock Isn't normally accounted for like that, right?

Correct. However,! I am not! pulling these numbers out of my hat and instead using them to illustrate a phenomenon I have previously observed - I am assigning these prices based on my observations of the company's stock after its Dutch Tender in 2012.

Can History Repeat?

During this Dutch Tender, the company tendered to purchase 11,000,000 shares of its common stock at a price between $4.25 and $5. After being announced on February 21st 2012 shares increased from $3.89 to approximately $4.8 - leaving a considerable spread between the upper limit of the tender range ($5) and the price of the stock at market ($4.8) - especially considering the fact that the tender offer expired one month after being initiated.

On March 22, the company announced that the offer was fully subscribed (in fact, slightly over subscribed) and elected to purchase slightly over 11,000,000 shares for $5 each - the maximum amount stipulated in the terms of the agreement. For many investors who purchased shares after the announcement simply to tender immediately, the successful conclusion of the offer at the highest price level was the end of the story, as the annualized returns - even for those late to the party - were significant enough to constitute an attractive arbitrage operation given the one month commitment.

For those who did not tender and held on after the expiry, the rewards were great. Something very interesting happened as the offer concluded: the price of the company appreciated significantly above $5 and did so quickly - hitting $6.41 on April 5th, less than three weeks after the conclusion of the tender. $6.41 represents 28% over the highest tender price offered by the company during the 2012 offering - a number that is very close to the 27% of the common shares the company decided to repurchase (reducing the total share float by 27% - thus increasing the price of all the outstanding shares by that number).

This Just Might Happen Again

I believe that history stands a very good chance of repeating itself - and! that inv! estors will once again find themselves witnessing a sharp appreciation in the price of the company's shares in the aftermath of it's tender offer, should it be successfully concluded. This situation does bear marked differences however, as the spread between the ceiling of the tender offer and the current stock price is much more narrow (and on some days is actually at a premium to the maximum tender price). I believe that investors who can purchase shares at or below $6.50 (ideally around $6.30) as the tender offer progresses and who hold or purchase their shares after the tender offer expires will realize significant gains of approximately 18%-20% (corresponding with the amount of shares to be retired) in a short period. In order to better assess the situation, I will be intently watching the progress of the tender offer - especially the price point at which the company purchases shares and the total amount purchased.

The Timeline is Important

If history is to be our guidepost as we venture into the unknown, the price action of the stock one month after the conclusion of the tender will provide the necessary proving ground with which to test my assumptions. Hackett's tender offer expires September 26, 2013 and using the past as a guide - I believe there is a one month window for significant price movement. If the price of the stock appreciates by roughly 18% (the amount of the float which will be removed should shares be purchased at the price of $6.50), from investors stand to reap an annualized pre-tax return of 216% if the price of the stock revises upwards in a similar manner as it did in 2012 - an extremely efficient manner with which to utilize capital.

Risks to be Aware Of

As with any special situation, there are potential risks to be had. The first is overpaying for shares of the stock relative to the final price at which the tender offer will be executed. Since we will not know the precise terms of the tender offer until it expires later this month - investors are face! d with so! me uncertainty risk during this period, particularly since shares have recently increased in price beyond the high point of the tender offer - potentially indicating that the trade has already become crowded.

In spite of the risks attached to the tender offer, investors also have the option of purchasing shares immediately AFTER the results of the tender offer are announced in order to protect themselves further and utilize more complete information. I would advocate purchasing a fractional position with a limit order somewhere below $6.50 before expiry - and depending on the development of the terms, purchasing more shares after the preliminary results of the offer are announced by the company.

Something that makes this special situation appealing in my eyes is the fact that investors are able to corral their risk - as the company has, in theory, established a variable floor ($5.75~$6.50) for the price of the stock based upon repurchases in the near term. For investors seeking to purchase shares with the express purpose of tendering, opportunities have begun to dry up - however investors willing to wager upon the dynamics of supply and demand are well situated and have the luxury of observing the results of the company's 2012 tender offer.

Another risk that I believe investors ought to be appraised of is the participation of insiders in the tender offer - as during the 2012 tender several major holders of the company participated.

Heavy insider participation in this operation (depending on the amount of stock tendered against total share ownership) could represent a red flag about the long term prospects of the company, while a lack of participation or buying by insiders would be considered a positive in my mind - indicating an expectation that the company's stock will appreciate significantly in the future.

I believe that this is very possible given the aggressive buybacks that have been conducted (11M shares in 2012 and 5.5M or more shares in 2013), the low cost of borro! wing give! n in the current interest rate environment and the ample free cash flow generated by the business

Final Thoughts

I believe that this situation offers investors a chance to realize significant returns that are insulated from broader market conditions. For investors willing to pay close attention in the next several months, there is a significant potential to profit from price appreciation after the tender offer is concluded.

Since I was late to the party, I have a limit order open for a fractional position in Hackett shares in the mid range of the tender offer price and am planning future purchases based upon the published results of the tender. Over the next three weeks - investors interested in participating will be provided with a more complete framework of information upon which decisions can be made. Though this situation does require more due diligence - it is a very attractive mispriced gamble in my mind.

Source: The Hackett Group Is 'Going Dutch': The Upside Potential In This Special Situation Is Worthy Of Note

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in HCKT over the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)

Additional disclosure: I currently have an open limit order for HCKT shares until the expiration of the tender period.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014

Motley Fool contributing writer Dan Caplinger explains silver streaming, the unique�business model of Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW  ) , whereby SLW offers financing to mining companies in return for the right to buy future production of silver at a discount.

In this video, Dan shares how adequately financed potential competitors might pose a threat to Silver Wheaton in the future.

Additionally, Dan reviews the pros and cons of SLW's policy of paying a cash dividend based upon 20% of cash flow.

Lastly, Dan describes how the effects of leverage may make owning Silver Wheaton more volatile than a more traditional alternative, such as investing in shares of iShares Silver Trust (NYSEMKT: SLV  ) .

If you are looking for a company whose success is determined by the metals market, but doesn't involve itself in the risks of physically mining the metals, then Silver Wheaton provides a unique play on the future of silver. SLW has grown sales and net income every year since 2008, and also has increased competitive advantages over its limited peer group. To learn more about Silver Wheaton, click here now to access The Motley Fool's premium research report on the company.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: British/Swiss Franc(UN)

UNILEVER N.V. operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It offers personal care products, including skin care and hair care products, deodorants, and oral care products under the brand names of Axe, Brylcreem, Dove, Fissan, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond's, Radox, Rexona, Signal & Close Up, Simple, St Ives, Sunsilk, TRESemm� Vaseline, and VO5. The company also provides home care products comprising laundry tablets, powders and liquids, soap bars, and various cleaning products under the Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Omo, Radiant, Sunlight, and Surf brand names. In addition, it offers food products consisting of soups, bouillons, sauces, snacks, mayonnaise, salad dressings, margarines and spreads, as well as cooking products, such as liquid margarines. The company markets its food products under the brand names of Becel/Flora, Bertolli, Blue Band, Rama, Hellmann?s, Amora, and Knorr. Further, it provides refreshment products, which include ice cream, tea-based beverages, weight-management products, and nutritionally enhanced staples under the brand names of Heartbrand, Lipton, and Slim?Fast. UNILEVER N.V. sells its products through its own sales force, as well as through independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, co-operative and independent grocery accounts, food service distributors, and institutions. The company, formerly known as Naamlooze Vennootschap Margarine Unie, was founded in 1927 and is based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Unilever N.V. is a subsidiary of The Unilever Group.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: ConocoPhillips(COP)

ConocoPhillips operates as an integrated energy company worldwide. The company?s Exploration and Production (E&P) segment explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Its Midstream segment gathers, processes, and markets natural gas; and fractionates and markets natural gas liquids in the United States and Trinidad. The company?s Refining and Marketing (R&M) segment purchases, refines, markets, and transports crude oil and petroleum products, such as gasolines, distillates, and aviation fuels. Its Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. This segment offers olefins and polyolefins, including ethylene, propylene, and other olefin products; aromatics products, such as benzene, styrene, paraxylene, and cyclohexane, as well as polystyrene and styrene-butadiene copolymers; and various specialty chemical products comprising organosulfur chemicals, solvents, catalyst s, drilling chemicals, mining chemicals, and engineering plastics and compounds. The company?s Emerging Businesses segment develops new technologies and businesses. It focuses on power generation; and technologies related to conventional and nonconventional hydrocarbon recovery, refining, alternative energy, biofuels, and the environment. This segment also offers E-Gas, a gasification technology producing high-value synthetic gas. ConocoPhillips was founded in 1917 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Hot Financial Companies For 2014: PetroChina Company Limited(PTR)

PetroChina Company Limited produces and distributes oil and gas in the People?s Republic of China. It operates in four segments: Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline. The Exploration and Production segment explores, develops, produces, and markets crude oil and natural gas, oilsands, and coalbed methane. As of December 31, 2010, it had 11,278 million barrels of proved reserves of crude oil; and 65,503 billion cubic feet of proved reserves of natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment engages in the refining of crude oil and petroleum products; and production and marketing of petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. This segment?s product line comprises processed crude oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, ethylene, synthetic resins, synthetic fiber materials, polymers, synthetic rubber, and urea. The Marketing segment involves in the marketing of refined products and tradi ng businesses. It operated 17,996 service stations. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and the sale of natural gas. It had a total length of 56,840 kilometers (km) of oil and gas pipelines, including 32,801 km of natural gas pipelines, 14,782 km of crude oil pipelines, and 9,257 km of refined product pipelines. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Waste Management Inc.(WM)

Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Cellcom Israel Ltd.(CEL)

Cellcom Israel Ltd. provides cellular communications services in Israel. It offers basic and advanced cellular telephone services, text and multimedia messaging services, and advanced cellular content and data services. The company?s basic cellular telephony services include voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, collect call, conference calling, ?Talk 2?, additional number services, and collect call services; and outbound and inbound roaming services. It also provides value-added services comprising Cellcom volume that includes downloadable content, such as music, games, on-net-reality programs, drama series, and video games; SMS and MMS services to send and receive text, photos, multimedia, and animation messages; access to third party application providers for notification of roadway speed detectors, mange vehicle fleets, and enable subscribers to manage and operate time clocks and various controllers for industrial, agricultural , and commercial purposes; video calls to communicate with each other through video applications; zone services for calls initiated from a specific location; location-based services; voice-based information services; text-based information services and interactive information services, including news headlines, sports results, and traffic and weather reports; and data services to access handsets, cellular modems, laptops, tablets, and cellular routers, as well as Internet based payment services. In addition, the company sells handsets, modems, routers, tablets, and laptops, as well as provides repair and replacement services; and offers landline telephony, transmission, and data services through its approximately 1,500 kilometers of inland fiber-optic infrastructure and complementary microwave links to selected business customers. As of March 31, 2011, it provided its services to approximately 3.395 million subscribers. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Himax Technologies Inc.(HIMX)

Himax Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets semiconductors for flat panel displays. Its products include display drivers and timing controllers for various thin film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCD) panels, which are used in desktop monitors, notebook computers, televisions, and mobile handsets, as well as consumer electronics products comprising netbook computers, digital cameras, mobile gaming devices, portable DVD players, digital photo frame, and car navigation displays; and TFT-LCD television and monitor semiconductor solutions. The company also provides liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) products for palm-size mobile projectors; power management integrated circuits, which include drivers, amplifiers, DC to DC converters and other semiconductors; complementary metal oxide semiconductor image sensors for camera-equipped mobile devices, such as mobile phones and notebook computers with a focus on lowlight image and video quality; and wafer level optics products. It serves TFT-LCD panel manufacturers, mobile device module manufacturers, and television makers. Himax Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Microchip Technology Incorporated(MCHP)

Microchip Technology Incorporated, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor products for various embedded control applications. It offers a family of microcontroller products that include 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers; and 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controllers, which feature on-board flash memory technology. The company also provides a set of application development tools that enable system designers to program a PIC microcontroller and dsPIC DSC for specific applications. In addition, it offers analog and interface products, which consist of various families with approximately 600 power management, linear, mixed-signal, thermal management, safety and security, and interface products. Further, the company provides memory products comprising serial electrically erasable programmable read-only memory. Its products are used in various applications in automotive, communications, computing, consumer, and industrial contr ol markets. Microchip Technology Incorporated markets its products primarily through a network of direct sales personnel and distributors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded in 1989 and is based in Chandler, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Beth Piskora]

  They are listed below:

  Altera (ALTR)��ielding 1.7%
  
  Apple (AAPL)��ielding 2.5%
  
  Applied Materials (AMAT)��ielding 2.6%
  
  Cisco (CSCO)��ielding 2.9%
  
  EMC Corp. (EMC)��ielding 1.5%
  
  International Business Machines (IBM)��ielding 2.0%
  
  KLA-Tencor (KLAC)��ielding 3.2%
  
  Microchip Technology (MCHP)��ielding 3.6%
  
  Oracle (ORCL)��ielding 1.5%
  
  Qualcomm (QCOM)��ielding 2.1%
  
  Texas Instruments (TXN)��ielding 2.9%
  
  Xilinx (XLNX)��ielding 2.3%
  
  

  Subscribe to S&P's The Outlook here��/P>

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Johnson & Johnson(JNJ)

Johnson & Johnson engages in the research and development, manufacture, and sale of various products in the health care field worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Consumer, Pharmaceutical, and Medical Devices and Diagnostics. The Consumer segment provides products used in baby care, skin care, oral care, wound care, and women?s health care fields, as well as nutritional, over-the-counter pharmaceutical products, and wellness and prevention platforms under the brands of JOHNSON?S, AVEENO, CLEAN & CLEAR, JOHNSON?S Adult, NEUTROGENA, RoC, LUBRIDERM, DABAO, LISTERINE, REACH, BAND-AID, CAREFREE, STAYFREE, SPLENDA, TYLENOL, SUDAFED, ZYRTEC, MOTRIN IB, and PEPCID AC. The Pharmaceutical segment offers products in various therapeutic areas, such as anti-infective, antipsychotic, contraceptive, dermatology, gastrointestinal, hematology, immunology, neurology, oncology, pain management, and virology. Its principal products include REMICADE for the treatment of immune me diated inflammatory diseases; STELARA for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis; SIMPONI, a treatment for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis; VELCADE for the treatment of multiple myeloma; PREZISTA and INTELENCE for treating HIV/AIDS patients; NUCYNTA for moderate to severe acute pain; INVEGA SUSTENNAtm for the acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults; RISPERDAL CONSTA for the management of bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia; and PROCRIT to stimulate red blood cell production. The Medical Devices and Diagnostics segment primarily offers circulatory disease management products; orthopaedic joint reconstruction, spinal care, and sports medicine products; surgical care, aesthetics, and women?s health products; blood glucose monitoring and insulin delivery products; professional diagnostic products; and disposable contact lenses. The company was founded in 1886 and is based in Ne w Brunswick, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Sanofi�� U.S. consumer products subsidiary Chattem Inc. acquired the rights to the Rolaids brand from McNeil-PPC, Inc. — a division of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) — in January of this year and has lived up to its promise to get the product back on store shelves by the end of 2013. J&J pulled Rolaids from the market in December 2010 following the discovery of contamination in the tablets which were made under contract.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: Lexington Realty Trust (LXP)

Lexington Corporate Properties Trust operates as a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). The company acquires, owns, and manages a portfolio of office, industrial, and retail properties net-leased to corporate tenants in the United States. It also provides investment advisory and asset management services to institutional investors in the net lease area. As of June 30, 2005, the company operated 185 properties and managed 2 properties. Lexington Corporate Properties Trust has elected to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it would not be taxed on the portion of its income, which is distributed to shareholders, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in New York City.

Top 10 Dividend Companies To Invest In 2014: 3M Company(MMM)

3M Company, together with subsidiaries, operates as a diversified technology company worldwide. The company?s Industrial and Transportation segment offers tapes, coated and non-woven abrasives, adhesives, specialty materials, filtration products, energy control products, closure systems for personal hygiene products, acoustic systems products, and components and products that are used in the manufacture, repair, and maintenance of automotive, marine, aircraft, and specialty vehicles. Its Health Care segment provides medical and surgical supplies, skin health and infection prevention products, inhalation and transdermal drug delivery systems, dental and orthodontic products, health information systems, and food safety products. The company?s Display and Graphics offers optical film solutions for LCD electronic displays; computer screen filters; reflective sheeting for transportation safety; commercial graphics sheeting and systems; and mobile interactive solutions, includin g mobile display technology, visual systems products, and computer privacy filters. The company?s Consumer and Office segment provides office supply products, stationery products, construction and home improvement products, home care products, protective material products, certain consumer retail personal safety products, and consumer health care products. Its Safety, Security and Protection Services segment offers personal protection products, safety and security products, cleaning and protection products for commercial establishments, track and trace solutions, and roofing granules for asphalt shingles. The company?s Electro and Communications segment provides packaging and interconnection devices; fluids that are used in the manufacture of computer chips, and for cooling electronics and lubricating computer hard disk drives; high-temperature and display tapes; insulating materials, including tapes and resins; and related items. The company was founded in 1902 and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Yesterday's record-setting session for the U.S. stock market was just the latest in a long line of advances. Yet with many investors believing that many individual stocks are overvalued, one key to deciding which stocks to buy now may lie in the much more important move in the bond market yesterday.

What the bond market is saying about stocks
For months, the stock market has moved up even as interest rates have remained low. But that trend has changed lately, and bond prices plunged yesterday, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury rising to its highest level in over a year. The move reflects the concern that investors have about the Federal Reserve potentially ending its program of quantitative easing, and since the Fed's bond purchases have helped keep rates low, investors conclude that ending the program would send rates higher. With bond guru Bill Gross and countless other fixed-income experts having predicted higher rates for a long time, the damage in the bond market could be severe.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Schlumberger N.V.(SLB)

Schlumberger Limited, together with its subsidiaries, supplies technology, integrated project management, and information solutions to the oil and gas exploration and production industries worldwide. The company?s Oilfield Services segment provides exploration and production services; wireline technology that offers open-hole and cased-hole services; supplies engineering support, directional-drilling, measurement-while-drilling, and logging-while-drilling services; and testing services. This segment also offers well services; supplies well completion services and equipment; artificial lift; data and consulting services; geo services; and information solutions, such as consulting, software, information management system, and IT infrastructure services that support oil and gas industry. Its WesternGeco segment provides reservoir imaging, monitoring, and development services; and operates data processing centers and multiclient seismic library. This segment also offers variou s services include 3D and time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys to multi-component surveys for delineating prospects and reservoir management. The company?s M-I SWACO segment supplies drilling fluid systems to improve drilling performance; fluid systems and specialty tools to optimize wellbore productivity; production technology solutions to maximize production rates; and environmental solutions that manages waste volumes generated in drilling and production operations. Its Smith Oilfield segment designs, manufactures, and markets drill bits and borehole enlargement tools; and supplies drilling tools and services, tubular, completion services, and other related downhole solutions. The company?s Distribution segment markets pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as mill, safety, and other maintenance products. This segment also provides warehouse management, vendor integration, and inventory management services. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Caterpillar Inc.(CAT)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rebecca McClay]

  Building roads and bridges takes a lot of heavy equipment, and that's exactly what Caterpillar (CAT) makes. Whether a project needs backhoes, excavators, pavers or the articulated trucks to get asphalt and other building materials from one location to another, the Peoria, Ill., manufacturer is the industry leader both in the U.S. and abroad.

Top Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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.

Top 5 Value Stocks To Invest In Right Now: 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.

New Apple iPhones to be Released on September 20 (AAPL)

Tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) announced on Tuesday that the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available on Friday, September 20 at 8 AM.

The new phones will be available in the U.S. and 10 other countries. Apple reported that the suggested retail price for the iPhone 5s 16GB will be $199, $299 for the 32GB and $399 for the 64GB. The iPhone 5c will be $99 for the 16GB and $199 for the 32GB.

Apple noted that the new features on iPhone 5s will include the A7 64-bit chip, an 8 megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash and Touch ID.

Apple shares were up $3.73, or 0.83%, during Tuesday morning trading. The stock is down 15% YTD.

Labor Day 2013 Stock Market Winners

Labor Day is always an interesting holiday, and it has serious ramifications on consumer spending and on the economy. The 2013 back-to-school spending has been down after a record 2012, and this leaves a lot of room for upside and for disappointment for retailers and businesses who prosper from spending habits around Labor Day. The holiday travel period for 2013 is defined as Thursday, August 29, through Monday, September 2. 24/7 Wall St. has used data from the National Retail Federation (NRF), AAA, the Conference Board, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

If you look at the AAA site, Labor Day spending for 2013 looks to be up in most categories from 2012. If you have seen data from the national Retail Federation, there is more caution. We also could not help but notice that the real measure of consumer confidence was far more optimistic than what preliminary reports indicated. We were extremely selective on naming any retail outlets that would thrive because the guidance from so many giants in the industry was so cautious. Here are five winning companies for Labor Day weekend spending by our take, in alphabetical order:

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAR) is an obvious winner, particularly after selling off more than 4% on Tuesday. That is now down 20% from its highs. If car rental rates are up 30% and they still are mostly sold out, that is called a license to gouge. If you are traveling around and need to drive, hitchhiking is not legal in many places now.

DineEquity Inc. (NYSE: DIN) seems to be a likely winner if travelers will be spending more. With some 3,600 Applebee’s and IHOP restaurant chain locations offering meals for the “budget-minded but not fast food” crowd, the 15% sell-off from highs earlier in 2013 seems to be a possible gift now that its dividend yield is up at 4.5%. Analysts on average see upside of almost 20% for this restaurant chain.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) seems an obvious choice if more people will be driving. How do you stay up for a long 200 to 300 mile drive? The legal way is coffee. Starbucks shares are now down 5% from their highs, as well due to the market sell-off. If Americans are going on a long driving trip, their favorite coffee is likely to end up in their stomachs.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is a winner if the higher end rooms are working better than the lower-end room rates. Its hotels and destinations include sucn brands as St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Méridien, Sheraton, Four Points and Element. After a drop of almost 4% on Tuesday, this stock is down 10% from its highs as well, and analysts have upside of about 15% expected for its investors.

TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) is small enough that it is often overlooked by travel and leisure investors. It has about 500 stores owned or franchised under the TravelCenters of America, TA and Petro Stopping Centers brand names. It caters to long-distance drivers, RVs and truckers on the interstates.

There is good news for gas stations around the nation. AAA is predicting that the 2013 Labor Day weekend will have the highest number of travelers since the recession. It projected that some 34.1 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home over the upcoming Labor Day holiday. If it comes true, that is a 4.2% gain over the 32.7 million people who traveled last year, due mostly to increased consumer spending and the improving housing market, according to the AAA report. As far as why this is a win for gas station owners, AAA predicted that some 85% of the travelers will travel by automobile. That is up 4.3% from a year ago, and it will offset what was put as a 2.7% average decline in gas prices versus a year ago. Again, TravelCenters of America LLC (NYSE: TA) seems to likely winner.

Top Canadian Companies To Own For 2014

Median spending is expected to grow to $804 from $749 last year, according to AAA. Hotels will be enjoying much of that gain. Travelers are expected to spend 24% of their budget on transportation and lodging. Food and beverages will account for 21% of the budget. Additional breakdowns are as follows for the most popular activities:

Dining at 57% — DineEquity Inc. (NYSE: DIN) for IHOP and Applebee’s Visiting with friends/family at 46% Shopping at 43%.

Airlines are not going to have as much of a boost, as AAA predicted that air travel is expected to rise by almost 3% to 2.61 million travelers. Airfares are up 4%, with an average lowest round-trip rate of $214 for the top 40 U.S. air routes, versus $205 in 2012. Sorry, but maybe only Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) is the winner here. Even then, only maybe.

Car rental companies are huge winners for Labor Day when you see this. The AAA Leisure Travel Index shows that weekend daily car rental rates will average $51 per day, a gain of 32% from 2012. Maybe the Department of Justice should have blocked car rental mergers on top of airline mergers. Again, think Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAR).

The mix in hotel rates will be hard to identify winners and losers because of so many price point overlaps. AAA Three Diamond rates are expected to be up 4% to an average of $161 per night. The average hotel rate for AAA Two Diamond hotels are expected to be down by 2%, averaging $115 per night. Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) is up massively this year, but it keeps backing away from that $1,000 share price. Again, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) seems our most likely winner here.

Now go to the National Retail Federation and things are a bit different. The NRF spokesperson called this cautious conservatism and called this an “either/or” economy on spending. The NRF said:

Given consumers' continued concerned with their macro and micro environment, I think we'll see shoppers this fall — and into the holiday season — continue to keep an eye out for promotions and make thoughtful, targeted purchases that keep them in line with their budgets.

After all the concerns in guidance from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), we chose not identify any of the big giant retail destination chains. If shopping was only responded to as a top thing by 43% and behind visiting friends and family, then it seems obvious that the nearly no-cost visit will win out over retail shops.

As far as who we are celebrating exactly, the BLS showed the following statistics for workers as of May 2012, who will mostly be working over this holiday weekend:

Retail salespeople: 4,340,000 Cashiers: 3,314,010 Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food: 2,943,810 Waiters and waitresses: 2,332,020

Does TiVo Support Higher Prices?

With shares of TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) trading around $12, is TIVO an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

TiVo is a developer and provider of software and technology that enables the search, navigation, and access of content across sources, including linear television, on-demand television, and broadband video. The company provides these capabilities through set-top boxes that include DVRs or non-DVR set-top boxes, tablet computers, mobile phones, and other screens. It also provides advertising solutions for the media industry, including a platform for interactive advertising and audience measurement services. As consumers look for improved methods to access their entertainment, TiVo is well-positioned to provide these valuable services. Consumers are engaging with media technology at an increasing rate so as long as TiVo continues to improve, rising prices should be in sight.

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T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

TiVo stock has seen a consistent uptrend over the last several years. The stock has pulled-back from a long-term selling level but may be getting ready to coast higher. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, TiVo is trading around its key averages which signal neutral price action in the near-term.

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of TiVo options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
TiVo Options	77.89%	83%	80%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
June Options	Steep	Average
July Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on TiVo’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for TiVo look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2	2012 Q1
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	-351.82%	309.52%	-35.29%	-116.35%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	33.68%	26.64%	6.66%	48.12%
Earnings Reaction	-0.08%	6.35%	-3.41%	-4.68%

TiVo has seen decreasing earnings and increasing revenue figures over most of the last four quarters. From these figures, the markets have had mixed feelings about TiVo’s recent earnings announcements.

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P = Poor Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has TiVo stock done relative to its peers, AT&T (NYSE:T), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Sony (NYSE:SNE), and sector?

	TiVo	AT&T	Microsoft	Sony	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-2.03%	10.32%	22.61%	70%	11.23%

TiVo has been a relative underperformer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

TiVo provides software and technology products that allows consumers to access their entertainment at their preferred times at any location. The stock has not done too well in recent times but is now displaying signs of life. Earnings and have decreased over most of the last four quarters while revenues have increased, overall, not pleasing investors. Relative to its peers and sector, TiVo has trailed significantly in year-to-date performance. WAIT AND SEE what TiVo does this coming quarter.

Can Merck Find a Cure for Depressed Sales?

A healthy pipeline and strong patent protection are vital to the success of pharmaceutical companies. Drug giant Merck (NYSE:MRK), has faced both patent expirations and a weak pipeline in the past year. Still, the stock is up almost 10 percent in the last 12 months. Will Merck's share price continue to rise in the second half of 2013? Let's use our CHEAT SHEET investing framework to decide whether Merck is an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY.

C = Catalysts for the Stock's Movement

Investors and analysts have critizized the lack of attractive late-stage drugs in Merck’s pipeline. An acquisition of drug maker Schering-Plough in 2009 has drastically increased the amount of these late-stage drugs Merck has in its inventory. Schering-Plough also provides synergies to Merck's business operations and will cut down on expenses in the coming years.

Merck suffered a blow on Wednesday as the Food and Drug Administration cancelled a meeting to determine the approval of reverse-anesthesia drug sugammadex. The surgery drug is already experiencing success overseas — marketed under the name Bridion — but with the FDA denying approval back in 2008, it has a long way to go before it can be sold in the U.S. This setback comes after the FDA denied approval for insomnia drug suvorexant earlier this month.

Merck, however, was granted “breakthrough” status for cancer drug lambrolizumab. Earning breakthrough status is important to pharmaceutical companies because it allows them to commercialize drugs faster, something Merck desperately needs. If lambrolizumab gains approval from the FDA, it would be a big win for Merck, as skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in the U.S.

E = Earnings are Mostly Decreasing Year-over-Year

While Merck's first-quarter earnings surpassed analysts' estimates, these earnings were inflated due to the inclusion of a one-time tax break. The real disappointment was Merck's revenue growth, which declined 9 percent from the previous year's quarter. A big hit to the company was the expiration of the patent for allergy drug Singular, one of Merck's biggest sellers. Sales declined around 75 percent after cheaper generics came onto the market in mid-2012.

Additionally, sales of Merck's popular diabetes drug, Januvia, were almost 20 percent below analyst expectations. Januvia, which contributes 12 percent to Merck's top line, will continue to face difficulties. Rival Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) was recently granted FDA approval for its new diabetes drug, Invokana, which should intensify competition in the diabetes drug space.

On a more positive note, Merck recently announced a program to buy back $5 billion of its outstanding shares from Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS). This makes up part of a $15-billion share repurchase program — $7.5 billion of which Merck will buy back in the next 12 months. This will certainly help the stock price, which has struggled since the lackluster earnings announcement.

	2013 Q1	2012 Q4	2012 Q3	2012 Q2	2012 Q1
Qtrly. EPS	$0.52	$0.30	$0.56	$0.58	0.56%
EPS Growth YoY	-7.14%	-40.07%	-1.82%	-10.77%	64.71%
Qtrly. Revenue	$10.67B	$11.74B	$11.49B	$12.31B	$11.73B
Revenue Growth YoY	-9.04%	-4.53%	-4.44%	1.32%	1.30%

*Data sourced from YCharts

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Mixed

Merck is currently trading at around $45.50. The stock is trading above its 200-day moving average of $45.10, implying that it is experiencing a longer-term uptrend, but trading slightly below its 50-day moving average of $47.54, suggesting that the stock has experienced sideways price movement in the near term. Merck experienced a “golden cross” in late April — when the 50-day moving average surpasses the 200-day moving average — implying that investor sentiment has been positive as of late. Merck is trading 5.6 percent below its 52-week high of $50.16 that it set on June 4.

Conclusion 

In a surprising move earlier this year, Merck rehired Ron Perlmutter to take over its research and development division. After leaving Merck, Perlmutter successfully rebuilt Amgen's (NASDAQ:AMGN) pipeline during an 11-year run. While he has not formally stated his plans for Merck's pipeline, Perlmutter's proven track record could help revitalize it. Merck is relatively cheap compared with the market as a whole, trading at a forward price-to-equity ratio of 12.72. However, the pharmaceutical giant needs to prove it can grow earnings without relying on dated drugs Singular and Januvia. With Merck's second-quarter earnings announcement scheduled for July 30, investors should WAIT AND SEE how Merck performs.

Using a solid investing framework such as this can help improve your stock-picking skills. Don't waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.

Best Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014

On Jul 12, 2013, shares of ACE Limited (ACE) reached a 52-week High of $93.57. The momentum was driven by the property and casualty insurer�� continued efforts to expand its product portfolio to ramp up its growth profile.

Recently, ACE USA has taken a step to expand its web-based desktop portal, ACE Worldview. We expect the extension of the technology to ARM business to help the company augment its primary casualty line of business, thereby strengthening its competitive position in the market.

Earlier, ACE USA introduced new services through its risk management services company, ESIS Inc. pertaining to the healthcare industry construction projects. This launch was an augmentation to the company�� Contractors Pollution Liability (CPL) coverage named Owner-Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP) launched in Jun 2013.

Best Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: Iamgold Corporation(IAG)

IAMGOLD Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral resource properties worldwide. It primarily explores for gold, silver, zinc, copper, niobium, diamonds, and other metals. The company holds interests in eight operating gold mines, a niobium producer, a diamond royalty, and exploration and development projects located in Africa and the Americas. Its advanced exploration and development projects include the Westwood project in Canada; and the Quimsacocha project, which consists of 3 mining concessions covering an aggregate area of approximately 8,030 hectares in Ecuador. The company was formerly known as IAMGOLD International African Mining Gold Corporation and changed its name to IAMGOLD Corporation in June 1997. IAMGOLD Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Christopher Barker]

  Although I have not shed my long-standing contention that Yamana Gold offers one of the more deeply discounted vehicles for long-term gold exposure, lately my outlook for IAMGOLD has turned particularly bullish. With a looming spin-off of a 10% to 20% stake in the company's reliably profitable Niobec niobium mine, and the recent sale of its interest in a pair of high-cost gold operations in Ghana for $667 million, IAMGOLD finds itself in terrific financial shape to execute an aggressive $1.2 billion expansion imitative at existing operations.

  Considering the $1.6 billion net asset value (after tax) that IAMGOLD recently assessed for the Niobec mine alone, and a presumed hoard of more than $1.2 billion (in cash, cash equivalents, and gold bullion held for investment), at a market capitalization of $6.9 billion I find extreme comfort in the market's resulting valuation for IAMGOLD's 15.2 million ounces of attributable gold reserves.

Best Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services worldwide. The company?s Retirement and Investor Services segment provides retirement savings and related investment products and services, including a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. This segment offers products and services to businesses for defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services; and annuities, mutual funds, and bank products and services to the employees of its business customers and other individuals. Principal Financial Group?s Principal Global Investors segment offers a range of equity, fixed income, and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services to institutional inve stors. The company?s Principal International segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, institutional asset management, and life insurance accumulation products in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand. Principal Financial Group?s U.S. Insurance Solutions segment offers individual life insurance, as well as specialty benefits in the United States. Its individual life insurance products include universal and variable universal life insurance and traditional life insurance; and specialty benefit products comprise group dental and vision insurance, individual and group disability insurance, and group life insurance, as well as fee-for-service claims administration and wellness services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Goldman]

  Principal Financial(PFG) is an insurance and investment management company.

  Principal is due to release fourth-quarter results today. It has an average earnings surprise average of 4.8% and moves 4%, both up and down, in reaction to earnings announcements. Principal's stock has soared 50% in the past 12 months, easily outpacing indices, and 13% in the past three months. Consequently, it has passed many of analysts' price targets. Goldman is still bullish, but predicts just 7% of remaining upside in the next 12 months.

  Principal receives "buy" ratings from just 26% of researchers evaluating its stock. But, it is still notably undervalued relative to its peer group. The stock trades at a forward earnings multiple of less than 12, a book value multiple of 1.2 and a cash flow multiple of 4.5, 21%, 70% and 71% industry discounts. The stock pays an annual dividend, which fluctuates depending upon operating results. This year's 55 cent annual payout translated to a 2% yield on payment.

Best Heal Care Companies To Own For 2014: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.

Best Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: Prudential Financial Inc (PRH)

Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential Financial) is a financial services company. Prudential Financial has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company offers an array of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. It offers these products and services to individual and institutional customers through proprietary and third party distribution networks. Prudential Financial has two businesses: the Financial Services Businesses and the Closed Block Business. The Financial Services Businesses consists of its United States Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division, United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division, and International Insurance division, as well as its Corporate and Other operations. The Closed Block Business consists of the assets and related liabilities of the Closed Block described below and certain related assets and liabilities. On January 1, 2012, it merged with Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, Ltd (Gibraltar Life).

On February 1, 2011, Prudential Financial completed the acquisition from American International Group, Inc. (AIG), of AIG Star Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (Star), AIG Edison Life Insurance Company (Edison), and certain other AIG subsidiaries. In July 2011, it sold its global commodities business to Jefferies Group, Inc. In November 2011, it acquired an office building located in downtown Chicago's Central Loop. On December 06, 2011, the Company announced the sale of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services (PRERS), the Company's real estate brokerage and relocation services unit, to Brookfield Residential Property Services.

Financial Services Businesses

The Financial Services Businesses consist of three operating divisions, which together encompass six segments, and its Corporate and Other operations. The United States Retirement Solutions an! d Investment Management division consists of its Individual Annuities, Retirement and Asset Management segments. The United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division consists of its Individual Life and Group Insurance segments. The International Insurance division consists of its International Insurance segment. Its Corporate and Other operations include corporate items and initiatives that are not allocated to business segments, as well as businesses that have been or will be divested.

The Individual Annuities segment manufactures and distributes individual variable and fixed annuity products, primarily to the United States market. The Company�� annuity products are distributed through a diverse group of independent financial planners, wirehouses, banks, and insurance agents, including Prudential Agents and the agency distribution force of The Allstate Corporation (Allstate). It offers variable annuities that provide its customers with tax-deferred asset accumulation together with a base death benefit and a suite of optional guaranteed death and living benefits. Its variable annuity investment options provide the customers with the opportunity to invest in proprietary and non-proprietary mutual funds, frequently under asset allocation programs, and fixed-rate accounts. The Company�� prudential agents distribute variable annuities with proprietary and non-proprietary investment options, as well as fixed annuities. Its individual annuity products are also offered through a range of third party channels, including independent brokers, wirehouses, banks, and Allstate�� proprietary distribution force.

The Company�� retirement segment, which is referred as Prudential Retirement, provides retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Its full service business provides recordkeeping, plan administration, actuarial advisory services, tailored participant education and communicati! on servic! es, trustee services and institutional and retail investments. It services defined contribution, defined benefit and non-qualified plans. For participants leaving the clients��plans, it provides a range of rollover products through its broker-dealer, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, its bank, Prudential Bank & Trust, FSB (PB&T), and certain of its insurance companies. Its institutional investment products business offers guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), funding agreements, institutional and retail notes, structured settlement annuities, and group annuities, for defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, non-qualified plans, and individuals.

The Company�� full service business offers plan sponsors and their participants a range of products and services to assist in the delivery and administration of defined contribution, defined benefit, and non-qualified plans, including recordkeeping and administrative services, comprehensive investment offerings and consulting services to assist plan sponsors in managing fiduciary obligations. As part of its investment products, it offers a range of general and separate account stable value products and other fee-based separate accounts, as well as retail mutual funds and institutional funds advised by affiliated and non-affiliated investment managers.

It also offers fee-based separate account products, through which customer funds are held in a separate account, retail mutual funds, institutional funds, or a client-owned trust. These products generally pass all of the investment results to the customer. In addition, it offers guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits associated with certain defined contribution accounts, and hedge certain of the related risks utilizing externally purchased hedging instruments. It also offers a range of rollover solutions, including individual retirement accounts, mutual funds, and guaranteed income products. Its rollover products and services are marketed to participants who ter! minate or! retire from organizations that are clients of its retirement plan recordkeeping services.

The Asset Management segment provides an array of investment management and advisory services by means of institutional portfolio management, mutual funds, asset securitization activity and other structured products, and strategic investments. These products and services are provided to the public and private marketplace, as well as its United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division, International Insurance division and Individual Annuities and Retirement segments, as well as the Closed Block Business. Its products and services include Public Fixed Income Asset Management, Public Equity Asset Management, Private Fixed Income Asset Management, Commercial Mortgage Origination and Servicing, Real Estate Asset Management, Strategic Investments, and Mutual Funds and Other Retail Services.

The public fixed income organization manages fixed income portfolios for United States and international, institutional and retail clients, as well as for its general account. Its products include traditional broad market fixed income strategies and single-sector strategies. It manages traditional asset-liability strategies, as well as customized asset-liability strategies. It also manages hedge strategies, as well as collateralized loan obligations. It also serves as a non-custodial securities lending agent. The public equity organization provides discretionary and non-discretionary asset management services to a range of clients. It manages an array of publicly-traded equity asset classes using various investment styles. The public equity organization is consisted of two wholly owned registered investment advisors, Jennison Associates LLC and Quantitative Management Associates LLC.

The private fixed income organization provides asset management services by investing in private placement investment grade debt, private placement below investment grade debt, and mezzanine debt securi! ties. The! se investment capabilities are utilized by its general account and institutional clients through direct advisory accounts, insurance company separate accounts, and private fund structures. The commercial mortgage operations provide mortgage origination, asset management and servicing for its general account, institutional clients, and government-sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration, and Freddie Mac. It also originated shorter-term interim loans for spread lending that are collateralized by assets generally under renovation or lease up

The global real estate organization provides asset management services for single-client and commingled private and public real estate portfolios and manufactures and manages a range of real estate investment vehicles investing in private and public real estate, primarily for institutional clients through 22 offices worldwide. Its domestic and international real estate investment vehicles range from fully diversified open-end funds to specialized closed-end funds that invest in specific types of properties or specific geographic regions or follow other specific investment strategies. The Company makes strategic investments to support the creation and management of funds offered to third-party investors in private and public real estate, fixed income and public equities asset classes. Other strategic investments are made with the intention to sell or syndicate to investors, including its general account, or for placement in funds and structured products that it offers and manages. It also makes loans to, and guarantees obligations of, the Company�� managed funds that are secured by equity commitments from investors or assets of the funds.

The Company manufactures, distributes and services investment management products primarily utilizing asset management expertise in the United States retail market. Its products are designed to be sold primarily by financial professionals, including both Prudential Agents an! d third p! arty advisors. It offers a family of retail investment products consisting of 41 mutual funds as of December 31, 2011. These products cover an array of investment styles and objectives designed to retain assets of individuals with varying objectives and to accommodate investors��changing financial needs. In addition, it offers banks and other financial services organizations a wealth management platform, which permits, such banks and organizations to provide their retail clients with services, including asset allocation, investment manager research and access, clearing, trading services, and performance reporting. The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division conducts its business through the Individual Life and Group Insurance segments. Its Individual Life segment manufactures and distributes individual variable life, term life and universal life insurance products primarily to the U.S. mass middle, mass affluent and affluent markets. During 2011, its primary insurance products are variable life, term life and universal life and represent 41%, 49% and 9%, respectively, of its face amount of individual life insurance in force, net of reinsurance.

The Group Insurance segment manufactures and distributes a range of group life, long-term and short-term group disability, long-term care, and group corporate-, bank- and trust-owned life insurance in the United States primarily to institutional clients for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans. Group Insurance also sells accidental death and dismemberment, preferred provider and indemnity dental and other ancillary coverages, and provides plan administrative services in connection with its insurance coverages. It offers group life insurance products, including employer-pay (basic) and employee-pay (voluntary) coverages. This portfolio of products includes basic and supplemental term life insurance for employees, optional term life insurance for dependents of employees and group universal life insurance. It also of! fers grou! p variable universal life insurance, basic and voluntary accidental death and dismemberment insurance and business travel accident insurance. It also offers a living benefits option that allows insureds that are diagnosed with a terminal illness to receive a portion of their life insurance benefit upon diagnosis, in advance of death, to use as needed.

The Company�� International Insurance segment manufactures and distributes individual life insurance, retirement and related products, including certain health products with fixed benefits. It provides these products to the broad middle income market across Japan through multiple distribution channels, including Life Advisors, who are associated with its Gibraltar Life operations. It also provides similar products to the mass affluent and affluent markets in Japan, Korea and other countries outside the United States through its Life Planner operations. It also offers variable life products in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Poland and interest-sensitive life products in all countries with the exception of Brazil and Mexico. In most of its operations, it also offers certain health products with fixed benefits, some of which include a high savings element. In addition, similar products are offered to the middle income market across Japan through Life Advisors, the distribution channel of the Company�� Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, Ltd. (Gibraltar Life) operation.

The Company�� international insurance operations offer various traditional whole life, term life, endowment policies, which provide for payment on the earlier of death or maturity and retirement income life insurance products that combine an insurance protection element similar to that of term life policies with a retirement income feature. It also offers variable life products in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Poland and interest-sensitive life products in all countries. It also offers certain health products with fixed benefits, as well as annuity products, which are primari! ly repres! ented by United States and Australian dollar-denominated fixed annuities in its Gibraltar Life operations.

Closed Block Business

The Closed Block Business includes liabilities for its individual in participating products, together with assets that are used for the payment of benefits and policyholder dividends, expenses and taxes with respect to these products. The Closed Block is 90% reinsured, including 7% by a wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial. During 2011, the Company also reinsured 90% of the short-term risks associated with the Closed Block policies to a wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial.