Hot Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now

Kiichiro Sato/AP WASHINGTON -- U.S. consumer confidence fell slightly in February on concern about the near-term outlook for business conditions and jobs. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its confidence index slipped to 78.1 this month, down from 79.4 in January. "Consumers believe the economy has improved, but they do not foresee it gaining considerable momentum in the months ahead," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. Consumer sentiment is closely watched for indications about how it will impact consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. Views about current conditions increased for the fourth consecutive month and now stand at the highest level in almost six years. But the index that tracks consumer expectations dipped slightly, pulling the overall reading down. In the expectations category, consumer views about the labor market was a bit more pessimistic than it has been, possibly reflecting two months of weak job gains. Employers added a tepid 113,000 jobs in January after a lackluster gain of 75,000 in December. That was far below last year's monthly average of 194,000. There was solid hiring in manufacturing and construction last month and that has contributed to optimism that the weaker job growth was a temporary lull and not the start of another swoon for the economy. The Federal Reserve at its December and January meetings have trimmed its monthly bond purchases and indicated that it feels the economy is gaining momentum. Many private analysts are forecasting that the overall economy will grow at around 3 percent this year, up a full percentage point from 2013 growth. The federal government is expected to be less of a drag on activity this year. Tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts trimmed growth by an estimated 1.75 percentage points in 2013.

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Watch In Right Now: 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.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Tuesday’s session are Forest Laboratories Inc.(FRX), Coca-Cola Co.(KO) and Waste Management Inc.(WM)

• [By Sean Williams]

  Today, I plan to introduce the first of 10 selections to the Basic Needs Portfolio: Waste Management (NYSE: WM  ) .

  How it fits in with our theme
  Waste Management fits the theme of the portfolio in actually more ways than one. Obviously, trash collection is a basic necessity that's needed regardless of whether the economy is booming or in a recession. The amount of trash we generate may fluctuate slightly based on the health of the economy, but hauling it away remains a basic need that creates consistent cash flow for Waste Management.

• [By Damian Illia]

  During 2008, Republic Services and Allied Waste merged to create a strong company which could compete with number-one waste management company Waste Management Inc. (WM). It is true this industry has a rather constant nature, as trash volume increases with population growth, urban construction, industrial production and commercial activity. Still, the macroeconomic context during 2008 affected the recently-merged company, having to deal with lower waste volumes and intense price competition. Nevertheless, after this bumpy beginning, the company reached a good profitability. And, although it came to sustain average growth on both gross and operating margins, this tendency has recently decelerated with this margins underperforming in 2012 and 2013.

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Delphi Financial Group Inc. (DFG)

Delphi Financial Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated employee benefit services. The company operates in two segments, Group Employee Benefit Products and Asset Accumulation Products. The Group Employee Benefit Products segment provides disability, group life, and excess workers? compensation insurance products to small and mid-sized employers. It also offers travel accident, voluntary accidental death and dismemberment, group dental, and limited benefit health insurance products, as well as assumed workers? compensation and casualty reinsurance. This segment markets its group products to employer-employee groups and associations in various industries primarily through independent brokers and agents. The Asset Accumulation Products segment primarily offers fixed annuities, such as single premium deferred annuities, flexible premium annuities, and multi-year interest guarantee products to individuals through networks of independent insurance agen ts. The company also provides integrated disability and absence management services, including event reporting, leave of absence management, claims and case management, and return to work management. Delphi Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is based in Wilmington, Delaware.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Some of Elliott Management�� top equity positions in the first quarter 2012 are Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD), Delphi Automotive (DFG), Iron Mountain (IRM) and News Corp. (NWS).

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: Intuitive Surgical Inc.(ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets da Vinci surgical systems for various surgical procedures, including urologic, gynecologic, cardiothoracic, general, and head and neck surgeries. Its da Vinci surgical system consists of a surgeon?s console or consoles, a patient-side cart, a 3-D vision system, and proprietary ?wristed? instruments. The company?s da Vinci surgical system translates the surgeon?s natural hand movements on instrument controls at the console into corresponding micro-movements of instruments positioned inside the patient through small puncture incisions, or ports. It also manufactures a range of EndoWrist instruments, which incorporate wrist joints for natural dexterity for various surgical procedures. Its EndoWrist instruments consist of forceps, scissors, electrocautery, scalpels, and other surgical tools. In addition, it sells various vision and accessory products for use in conjunction with the da Vinci Surgical System as surgical procedures are performed. The company?s accessory products include sterile drapes used to ensure a sterile field during surgery; vision products, such as replacement 3-D stereo endoscopes, camera heads, light guides, and other items. It markets its products through sales representatives in the United States, and through sales representatives and distributors in international markets. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Among holdings in which Lone Pine Capital increased its stake are Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) and Ulta Salon (NASDAQ: ULTA  ) . Intuitive Surgical, specializing in robotic surgical equipment, has had a bumpy year, thanks to bearish comments from a research company and questions about the efficacy of its systems. Some legal worries were eased recently, with a victory in court. While some wonder whether the company's growth prospects are slowing down, others love the company's competitive advantages and dominance in its promising market.

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  1. Intuitive Surgical will close higher on the week
  One of the more intriguing companies reporting this week will be Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) . The company behind the da Vinci surgical robotics system took a hit a few days ago, after revealing soft sales in its latest quarter. Posting revenue and earnings growth in the single digits is not the norm for Intuitive Surgical, and the news even included a decline in the sale of the actual systems.

• [By Steve Symington]

  In March, fellow Fool Brenton Flynn wondered aloud whether the onus for recent robotic surgery errors should really fall on�Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG  ) .

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now: TrueBlue Inc.(TBI)

TrueBlue, Inc. provides temporary blue-collar staffing services in the United States. It supplies on demand general labor to various industries under the Labor Ready brand; skilled labor to manufacturing and logistics industries under the Spartan Staffing brand; and trades people for commercial, industrial, and residential construction, and building and plant maintenance industries under the CLP Resources brand. The company also provides mechanics and technicians to the aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul, aerospace manufacturing, and assembly industries, as well as to other transportation industries under the Plane Techs brand; and temporary drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Centerline brand. It primarily serves small and medium-size businesses. The company was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. TrueBlue, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of staffing agency TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI  ) jumped 10% today after the company reported earnings.

  So what: Revenue jumped 19%, to $422.3 million, and beat estimates of $420.2 million from Wall Street. Adjusted earnings per share were also up 19%, to $0.31, outpacing estimates by $0.05.�

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  When looking at small cap stocks, it is useful to compare the company with others that have expanded in both share price and size. For those considering investing in the $100 billion staffing industry, the growth of TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) shows what could be the potential path for Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC), as both operate in the $29 billion demand labor sector. Other firms have done well in the staffing industry include Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) and ManPower Group (NYSE: MAN).

• [By Jonathan Yates]

  For those looking to invest in real estate stocks, highly recommended is the Dr. Housing Bubble blog. In a recent posting, the "Dr." pointed out that there was a "Lost Generation" when it came to household income. That has not happened for those investing in staffing industry stocks such as Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), TrueBlue, Inc. (NYSE: TBI), and Labor SMART (OTCBB: LTNC).

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014

INDIANAPOLIS ��The maker of erectile dysfunction drug Cialis wants its pill sold to men without a prescription.

Under a licensing deal between Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) and French drugmaker Sanofi (SAN), Cialis could become the first prescription drug for male impotence to be sold over the counter. The plan still needs approval from regulators, who would weigh the risks of allowing the drug to be sold without a doctor's visit.

The two companies hope for a 2018 launch of what they're calling Cialis OTC. That's the same year patents for Cialis are expected to expire in the United States and Europe, allowing cheaper generics to take over and effectively dry up Lilly's considerable profits from the drug.

Cialis generated $2.16 billion in sales last year and was Lilly's fourth best-selling drug.

5 Best Healthcare Equipment Stocks To Buy For 2015: Merck & Company Inc.(MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. provides various health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The company?s Pharmaceutical segment provides human health pharmaceutical products, such as therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders in the areas of bone, respiratory, immunology, dermatology, cardiovascular, diabetes and obesity, infectious diseases, neurosciences and ophthalmology, oncology, vaccines, and women's health and endocrine. This segment also offers human health vaccines, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines. Its Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products. This segment offers antibiotics, anti-inflammatory products, vaccines, products for the treatment of fertility disorders, and parasiticides for cattle, swine, horses, poultry, dogs, cats, salmons, and fish. The Consumer Care segment develops, manufac tures, and markets over-the-counter, foot care, and sun care products. Its over-the-counter product line includes non-drowsy antihistamines; treatment for occasional constipation; decongestant-free cold/flu medicine for people with high blood pressure; nasal decongestant spray; and treatment for frequent heartburn. This segment?s foot care products comprise topical antifungal, and foot and sneaker odor/wetness products; and sun care products include sun care lotions, sprays and dry oils; and sunburn relief products. The company serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, physicians, physician distributors, veterinarians, animal producers, and managed health care providers, as well as food chain and mass merchandiser outlets in the United States and Canada. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By George Budwell]

  Let's take a look at today's top stories in biotech and health care. Keep an eye out for Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY  ) ,�Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD  ) and�Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK  ) .�

• [By Daniel Putnam]

  In contrast, pharmaceutical stocks have held up relatively well. Merck (MRK) has bucked the broader-market downtrend to post a return of 6.9% year-to-date, while Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY) are up 2.6% and 4.1%, respectively, through Tuesday.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Merck (NYSE: MRK  ) also declined, with a 0.4% drop, even though the company won a legal battle against potential generic competition. As Fool contributor Dan Carroll noted earlier today, Merck got an injunction to protect its Januvia and Janumet diabetes drugs from an Indian company seeking to make generic versions of the drug. With the drugs having assumed the role of Merck's blockbusters, any threat has potentially large implications for the pharmaceutical company, which has already faced plenty of damage from past patent expirations.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top Headline
  Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) reported a 7% rise in its first-quarter profit. Merck's quarterly profit surged to $1.71 billion, or $0.57 per share, compared to a year-ago profit of $1.59 billion, or $0.52 per share. Excluding certain items, Merck earned $0.88 per share, up from $0.85 per share Its revenue dropped 4% to $10.26 billion versus $10.67 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.79 per share on revenue of $10.43 billion. Merck reiterated its full-year earnings forecast of $2.15 to $2.47 per share.

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014: Cloud Peak Energy Inc(CLD)

Cloud Peak Energy Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in coal mining operations in the Powder River Basin of the United States. It produces sub-bituminous steam coal with low sulfur content for electric utilities and industrial customers. The company owns and operates Antelope surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; the Cordero Rojo surface coal mine located to the south of Gillette, Wyoming; and the Spring Creek surface coal mine located in Montana. It also owns a 50% interest in the Decker surface coal mine located in Montana. As of December 31, 2010, it had approximately 970 million tons of proven and probable reserves. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Gillette, Wyoming.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Simply put, the coal stocks trio of Peabody Energy (BTU), Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) and Cloud Peak Energy (CLD) could be some of the biggest bargains out all energy stocks.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Consol Energy (CNX), �which also produces natural gas, was up more than 3%, as was Cloud Peak Energy (CLD).

  The Moody’s press release, here. Coal insiders were active earlier this year, we noted here.

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014: Sirius XM Radio Inc.(SIRI)

Sirius XM Radio Inc. provides satellite radio services in the United States and Canada. It broadcasts a programming lineup of approximately 135 channels of commercial-free music, sports, news and information, talk and entertainment, traffic, and weather on subscription fee basis through two satellite radio systems in the United States; and holds an interest in the satellite radio services offered in Canada. The company also simulcasts music and selected non-music channels over the Internet; and offers applications to allow consumers to access its Internet services on mobile devices. As of December 31, 2010, it had 20,190,964 subscribers. In addition, the company designs, establishes specifications, sources or specifies parts and components, and manages various aspects of the logistics and production of satellite radios; licenses its technology to various electronics manufacturers to develop, manufacture, and distribute radios under various brands; and imports radios distri buted through its Websites. The company?s satellite radios are primarily distributed through automakers, retailers, and its Websites. Further, it provides music services for commercial establishments; a satellite television service to offer music channels as part of certain programming packages on the DISH Network satellite television service; music and comedy channels to mobile phone users through mobile phone carriers; Backseat TV, a service offering television content designed primarily for children in the backseat of vehicles; Travel Link, a suite of data services that include graphical weather, fuel prices, sports schedules and scores, and movie listings; and real-time traffic and weather services. The company was formerly known as Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and changed its name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. in August 2008. Sirius XM Radio Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Paul Sancya/APAlan Mulally is joining Google's board of directors. There were plenty of winners and losers this week in the business world, as a software giant announced 18,000 layoffs and a social networking speedster made a shrewd acquisition that should help its site become more viral. Here's a rundown of the week's best and worst. LinkedIn (LNKD) -- Winner For many LinkedIn registered users, the career-oriented social networking site is one that they turn to only if they're looking for work or endorsing a friend who's looking. Requests for approving new connections are as far as many go in immersing themselves in the LinkedIn experience. That could all change after LinkedIn acquired Newsle this week. Newsle takes contacts from a user's Facebook and Twitter pages and scans the Internet for news alerts. It's easy to see how Newsle can make LinkedIn stickier, offering up notifications that could be valuable the next time the two connected LinkedIn users meet. This is a great example of a dot-com firm acquiring a small company that should easily grow in relevance under new ownership. Microsoft (MSFT) -- Loser The pink slips are raining hard at the world's largest software company. Microsoft will be cutting 18,000 employees in the coming months. Layoffs were expected after Microsoft acquired Nokia's (NOK) handset business, but that only explains a little more than two-thirds of the cuts. Microsoft will be recording pre-tax charges between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion for the restructuring, but there isn't a clear picture on what the resulting savings will be. Morale is hard to sustain at a company when thousands of people are being let go. Google (GOOG) -- Winner We don't have to stray from Microsoft to segue into this next item. Last year it seemed as if the top candidate to be Microsoft's new CEO was outgoing Ford (F) CEO Alan Mulally. It didn't work out. Microsoft went for an internal hire. Well, this week Google announced that Mulally is being tapp

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI  ) closed at a five-year high yesterday. The satellite radio provider boosted its free cash flow guidance earlier this week, and strong auto sales should translate into healthy growth for the media giant that already serves a whopping 24.4 million subscribers.

• [By Michael Calia]

  A committee formed by Sirius XM Holdings Inc.(SIRI) has hired financial and legal advisers to help the company evaluate a takeover offer by media-investment company Liberty Media Corp.(LMCA)

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014: LifePoint Hospitals Inc.(LPNT)

LifePoint Hospitals Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates general acute care hospitals in non-urban communities in the United States. The company?s hospitals provide a range of medical and surgical services comprising general surgery, internal medicine, obstetrics, emergency room care, radiology, oncology, diagnostic care, coronary care, rehabilitation services, and pediatric services, as well as specialized services, such as open-heart surgery, skilled nursing, psychiatric care, and neuro-surgery. Its hospitals also offer outpatient services, including one-day surgery, laboratory, x-ray, respiratory therapy, imaging, sports medicine, and lithotripsy. As of December 31, 2009, LifePoint Hospitals owned or leased 47 hospitals with a total of 5,552 licensed beds in 17 states. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee. Lifepoint Hospitals Inc. (NasdaqNM:LPNT) operates independently of HCA Inc. as of May 11, 1999.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  The fun wasn't just limited to the big three hospital operators. Lifepoint Hospitals (NASDAQ: LPNT  ) stock jumped 5% on the CMS news, reflecting a $109 million market cap expansion. Likewise, Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS  ) shares climbed 5%, bumping its market cap up by�$55 million.

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014: Lionbridge Technologies Inc.(LIOX)

Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. provides language, development, and testing services. Its Global Language and Content segment provides product localization services, such as creating foreign language versions of its clients? products and software applications, including the user interface, online help systems, and documentation; and content translation services, such as translating and maintaining clients? Web-based content, eLearning courseware and training materials, technical support, and sales and marketing information. It also offers technical authoring, eLearning courseware development, and production and integration of content; and global language and content services delivery. The company?s Global Development and Testing segment develops and maintains on-premise, SaaS, and smart phone and tablet applications, as well as provides Web production services. This segment also offers various testing services under the VeriTest brand, including managed test teams, test proc ess design, test automation, functional testing, performance testing, globalization testing, and product certification. In addition, it provides specialized search relevance, online content editorial, keyword optimization, and related services. Its Interpretation segment offers interpretation services for government business and healthcare organizations that require experienced linguists to facilitate communication. It provides interpretation communication services, such as onsite interpretation, over-the-phone interpretation and interpreter testing, training, and assessment services in approximately 360 languages and dialects. The company serves the technology, mobile and telecommunications, Internet and media, life sciences, government, manufacturing, automotive, retail, and aerospace sectors in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.

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 Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [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 Lionbridge Technologies (Nasdaq: LIOX  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Lionbridge (LIOX) is the kind of cheap, small-cap stock that investors love. This player has soared 60% in the last three months thanks to nice earnings and improving investor sentiment.

Top 5 Retail Companies To Invest In 2015

Top 5 Retail Companies To Invest In 2015: Vitamin Shoppe Inc (VSI)

Vitamin Shoppe, Inc., incorporated on September 27, 2002, is a specialty retailer and direct marketer of vitamins, minerals, herbs, specialty supplements, sports nutrition and other health and wellness products. During the fiscal year ended December 29, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company marketed over 400 different brands, as well as its own brands, which include Vitamin Shoppe, BodyTech and True Athlete. The Company sells its products through two segments: retail and direct. In the Company's retail segment, the Company had a total of 286 new stores during the fiscal 2012. As of January 26, 2013, the Company operated 579 stores in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Ontario, Canada, primarily located in high-traffic regional retail centers. In the Company's direct segment, the Company sells its products directly to consumers through the Internet, primarily at www.vitaminshoppe.com. On February 14, 2013, Vitamin Shoppe Mariner, Inc. acquired Super Supplements, Inc.

Retail

The Company's retail segment includes its retail store format. Its retail stores are is located in diverse geographic and demographic markets, ranging from urban locations in New York City, to suburban locations in Plantation, Florida and Manhattan Beach, California. As of January 26, 2013, the Company leased the property for all of its 579 stores. The Company's primary warehouse and distribution center and corporate headquarters are consolidated into a leased, 230,000 square-foot facility.

Products

The Company offers a selection of vitamins, minerals, herbs, homeopathic remedies, specialty supplements, such as fish oil, probiotics, glucosamine and Co Q10, sports nutrition, weight management, as well as natural bath and beauty, pet supplements and options for a healthy home. The Company's offers includes approximately 17,500 stock keeping units (SKUs) from over 400 brands. The Company offers! products to its as sortment in its Vitamin Shoppe, BodyTech, True Athlete and O! ptimal Pet brands, which include products, such as Ultimate Man, Ultimate Women, Whey Tech Pro 24 and Natural Whey Protein. The Company also offers an assortment from national brands, such as Optimum Nutrition, USP Labs, Garden of Life, Cytosport, Nature's Way, Solaray and Solgar. This assortment is designed to provide the Company's customers with a selection of available product in order to help them achieve their health and wellness goals.

The vitamin and mineral product category includes multi-vitamins, which many consider to be a foundation of a healthy regimen, lettered vitamins, such as Vitamin A, C, D, E, and B-complex, along with trace minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, chromium and zinc. Certain herbs can be taken to help support specific body systems, including ginkgo to support brain activity and milk thistle to help support liver function, as well as other less common herbs, such as holy basil for stress support and blood sugar control and black c ohosh for menopause support. Herbal products include whole herbs, standardized extracts, herb combination formulas and teas.

Categories of specialty supplements include omega fatty acids, probiotics and condition specific formulas. Certain specialty supplements, such as organic greens, psyllium fiber and soy proteins, are taken for added support during various life stages. Folic acid is specifically useful during pregnancy. Super antioxidants, such as coenzyme Q-10, grapeseed extract and pycnogenol, are taken to address specific conditions. High ORAC (oxygen radical absorptive capacity) fruit concentrates like gogi, mangosteen, pomegranate and blueberry are taken to prevent oxygen radical damage. Other specialty supplement formulas are focused to support specific organs, biosystems and body functions. The Company offers approximately 3,000 SKUs in sports nutrition.

The Company's other category include natural beauty and per! sonal car! e, diet and weigh t management supplements, natural pet food, and low carb foo! ds. Natur! al beauty and personal care products offer an alternative to traditional products that often contain synthetic and/or other ingredients that the Company's customers find objectionable. The Company offers approximately 3,000 SKUs for its other category. The Company's natural pet products include nutritionally balanced foods and snacks along with condition specific supplements such as glucosamine for joint health. Its variety of diet and weight management products range from low calorie bars, drinks and meal replacements to energy tablets, capsules and liquids.

The Company competes with Vitamin World, GNC, Whole Foods, Costco, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Amazon.com, Puritan's Pride, Vitacost.com, Bodybuilding.com, Doctors Trust, Swanson and iHerb.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Barclays upgraded share s of Vitamin Shoppe (VSI) today, expressing a confidence in management that was, well, heartwarming.

  Barclays’ analysts Meredith Adler and Sean Kras call Vitamin Shoppe’s management team “thoughtful, deliberate and disciplined” and praise their ability to diversify the business. As a result, they upgraded Vitamin Shoppe to Overweight from Equal Weight two days after Vitamin Shoppe released its earnings.

  But Adler and Kras also spent a good number of words explaining what Vitamin Shoppe isn’t–specifically, it’s not GNC Holdings (GNC):

  [Vitamin Shoppe] said it saw no fundamental change in consumer demand, nor did it feel much pressure from the bad media reports about things like multi-vitamins and fish oil, unlike GNC. [Vitamin Shoppe] has a much broader offering than GNC, however, so weakness in any one category rarely has a major impact on[Vitamin Shoppe's] overall sales the way it does at GNC. Conversely, it benefits less when there are few very successful products. For example, diet is a far sma! ller part! of the sales mix at[Vitamin Shoppe] than at GNC. Last year diet had some strong products, but this year there are fewer. GNCs comps were stronger than[Vitamin Shoppe's] last year, but we like the stability of[Vitamin Shoppe's] business, especially in the current environment.

  Shares of Vitamin Shoppe have gained 1.8% to $43.42 at 3:24 p.m., while GNC has risen 0.8% to $37.43.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Sales growth this last quarter was up only about 6%, but net income per share was up 21%. They pay a $0.60 dividend which gives them a dividend yield of 1.4%. Their cash flow yield is 4.6%, so they could easily raise their dividend. They are by far the leader in a very fragmented industry. I believe both [Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI  ) ] and GNC will do well and I think they may make a fair pairing in a portfolio. Stability versus growth.
  
  They do have $1.1 billion in debt. But they generate about $200 million in cash flow a year and they have $174 million in cash, so that shouldn't be a problem. Their cash flow is very high, so in my opinion, is reason enough to believe they will beat the S&P 500 over the next ten years.

• [By John Udovich]

  Vitamin Shoppe Inc (NYSE: VSI), Books-A-Million, Inc (NASDAQ: BAMM) and Perfumania Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PERF) have the dubious distinction of beingthe worst performing small capspecialty retail stocks for this year (according to Finviz.com) with losses of 4.85% and3% and a gain of 0.61%, respectively, since the start of the year (See my previous article: This Years Best Performing Small Cap Specialty Retail Stocks? UNTD, TA & HZO). I should mention that the definition of specialty retail stocks might vary from one stock screener to another, but whats clear is that these three small cap retail stocks have been heading in the wrong direction for investors for much of this year. With that in mind, what sort of performance should investors expect from these small cap specialty retail stocks on Bl! ack Frida! y and for the all important holiday season? Here is what you need to be aware of:

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-5-retail-companies-to-invest-in-2015.html

Hot Diversified Bank Companies For 2015

Hot Diversified Bank Companies For 2015: iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM)

iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performances of the small capitalization sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes approximately 8% of the market capitalization of all publicly traded United States equity securities.

The Index is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index, and serves as the underlying index for the Russell 2000 Growth and Value Index series. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index of the approximately 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index. The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) has dropped 5.2% so far this year, while Mueller Industries (MLI), which has plunged 55%, Medidata Solutions (MDSO), which has plummeted 44%, Financial Engines (FNGN), which has slid 42%, and Isis Pharmaceuticals (ISIS), which has tumbled 42%, are the index’s biggest losers.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has gained 1.1% during the past three months, to the iShares Russell 2000 ETF’s (IWM) 5.9% gain. McDonald’s (MCD), meanwhile, has dropped 4.9% during that time frame, whileBurger King (BKW) has jumped 6.8%

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  As a result, the annual ritual that Russell follows in reconstituting its entire family of indexes takes on immense importance. Especially with the more illiquid stocks that make up indexes like the popular small-cap Russell 2000 (RUSSELLINDICES: ^RUT  ) and the Russell Microcap index, additions and deletions to the lineup of stocks included in each index can lead to intense volati! lity as rule-following index investors have to mimic the changes in the index by buying and selling the affected stocks. For instance, the Russell-tracking iShares Russell 2000 (NYSEMKT: IWM  ) has almost $22 billion in assets under management, and when you consider index funds and ETFs, the total figure tracking just the small-cap index alone approaches $600 billion.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/hot-diversified-bank-companies-for-2015-3.html

Hot Media Stocks To Watch For 2015

Hot Media Stocks To Watch For 2015: DISH Network Corporation(DISH)

DISH Network Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides direct broadcast satellite (DBS) subscription television services in the United States. It offers programming that includes approximately 280 basic video channels, 60 Sirius satellite radio music channels, 30 premium movie channels, 35 regional and specialty sports channels, 2,800 local channels, 250 Latino and international channels, and 55 channels of pay-per-view content. The company also offers local HD channels in approximately 160 markets and 215 national HD channels; and receiver systems, including a small satellite dish, digital set-top receivers, and remote controls. In addition, it provides DISHOnline.com, which enables DISH Network subscribers to watch 150,000 movies, television shows, clips, and trailers; DISH Remote Access that enables subscribers to remotely manage their DVRs using compatible mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops through their broadband-connected receiver; and Go ogle TV that enables DISH Network subscribers to search the Internet, check email, interact with social media, and find additional online programming content while simultaneously watching television. As of March 31, 2011, the company had approximately 14.191 million customers. DISH Network provides receiver systems and programming through direct sales channels; and independent third parties, such as small satellite retailers, direct marketing groups, local and regional consumer electronics stores, nationwide retailers, and telecommunications companies. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Analysts at Wunderlich maintained a Hold rating on Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) with a price target raised to $60 from a previous $56. Shares lost 0.81 percent, closing at $64.82.

• [By Jonathan Berr]

  Cracks are starting to appear in t! he decade-old framework of the television industry. DirecTV (DTV), Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) and Dish Network (DISH) have all refused to carry Comcast’s regional sports network in Houston, arguing steep fees Comcast was charging couldn’t be justified by the viewership. Having the Houston Astros, one of the worst teams in baseball, as part of the channel’s programming lineup doesn’t help matters either. These spats will become more commonplace.

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

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now

Auto sales are booming and that�� good news for large cap auto insurer�the Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) along with small cap auto insurers Safety Insurance Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SAFT) and�Mercury General Corporation (NYSE: MCY) as they offer income to yield hungry investors as well as income in the form of dividends. Specifically, a Yahoo! Autos blog recently noted that last month, automakers sold 1.5 million new vehicles for the highest rate in years with�most industry forecasters expecting sales to�return to the level they hit before the 2008 recession of 16 million vehicles a year. The blog post then went on to note the three forces driving auto sales:

Retirees (who have predictable income from Social Security) Cheap loans Lower standards for borrowers

Since auto insurance is a necessity, its worth�taking a closer look at auto insurance stocks like the Progressive Corporation, Safety Insurance Group and Mercury General Corporation that offer some income to offset your auto insurance rates.

Best European Companies To Own In Right Now: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Texas Instruments Incorporated(TXN)

Texas Instruments Incorporated engages in the design and sale of semiconductors to electronics designers and manufacturers worldwide. The company?s Analog segment offers high-performance analog products comprising standard analog semiconductors, such as amplifiers, data converters, and interface semiconductors; high-volume analog and logic products; and power management semiconductors and line-powered systems. Its Embedded Processing segment includes DSPs that perform mathematical computations to process and enhance digital data; and microcontrollers, which are designed to control a set of specific tasks for electronic equipment. The company?s Wireless segment designs, manufactures, and sells application processors and connectivity products. Its Other segment offers smaller semiconductor products, which include DLP products that are primarily used in projectors to create high-definition images; and application-specific integrated circuits. This segment also provides handhe ld graphing and scientific calculators, as well as licenses technologies to other electronic companies. The company serves the communications, computing, industrial, consumer electronics, automotive, and education sectors. Texas Instruments Incorporated sells its products through a direct sales force, distributors, and third-party sales representatives. It has collaboration agreements with PLX Technology Inc.; Neonode, Inc.; and Ubiquisys Ltd. The company was founded in 1938 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Myra Ramdenbourg]

  Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN): Sr. Vice President and CFO Kevin P. March sold 318,750 shares

  On 11/03/2014, Sr. Vice President and CFO Kevin P. March sold 318,750 shares at an average price of $50.01. The price of the stock has increased by 1.78% since. Texas Instruments Inc. has a market cap of $53.77 billion and its shares were traded at around $50.90. The company has a P/E ratio of 22.30 and P/S ratio of 4.33 with a dividend yield of 2.44%. Over the past 10 years, Texas Instruments Inc had an annual average earnings growth of 4.50%. GuruFocus rated Texas Instruments Inc the business predictability rank of 3-star.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  We have tracked the key short interest changes as of September 30 in the following semiconductor leaders: Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL), Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) and Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT). We also chose to look at how the Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSEMKT: SMH) has held up.

• [By Chuck Saletta]

  On the flip side, Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN  ) was the second largest gainer for the IPIG portfolio on the week. While it reported somewhat weaker-than-expected earnings, its shares rose on the news that its product mix is shifting toward higher-margin items, a potential harbinger of strength for the future. When it comes to drivers of a stock's strength, expanding margins are a far stronger reason for optimism than poison pills and rumors of activist investors.

• [By Rich Smith]

  LSI is cheaper than it looks
  When you stack up LSI stock against a couple of its larger competitors -- Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL  ) and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN  ) , it's not immediately clear that LSI is a bargain. Right off the bat, you can see that the stock sells for 30 times earnings -- while TI costs only 23.3 times earnings, and Marvell costs an even 22.0.

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: EZchip Semiconductor Limited(EZCH)

EZchip, a fabless semiconductor company, engages in the development and marketing of Ethernet network processors for networking equipment. Its products include network processor chips, evaluation boards and network-processor based systems, and development software toolkits. The company offers network processors for use in forming the silicon core of networking equipment, such as switches and routers; and for voice, video and data integration in various applications. Its network processors are single-chip solutions, which enable its customers to design multi-port line cards, such as processing and classification engines, traffic managers, media access controllers, as well as a range of specialized hardware blocks that accelerate various functions. The company offers Evaluation systems which enable customers to test NPU-based systems; and toolkits that assist customers in creating, verifying, and implementing solutions based on its network processors. It provides a library f eaturing data plane code for a range of applications, which include Metro Ethernet protocols, Multi-Protocol Label Switching, IPv4 and IPv6 routing, Access Control Lists, GPON/EPON OLT functionality, Network Address Translation, and Server Load Balancing. The company sells its products directly, and through contract manufacturers and distributors to network equipment vendors. It markets its products in Israel, China, Hong Kong, the Far East, Canada, the United States, and Europe. The company was formerly known as LanOptics Ltd. and changed its name to EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. in July 2008. EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. was founded in 1989 and is based in Yokneam, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) surged 9.38% to $26.13. The volume of EZchip Semiconductor shares traded 407% higher than normal. EZchip Semiconductor reported better-than-expected Q1 results.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  EZchip Semiconductor (NASDAQ: EZCH) shares climbed 5.80% to $23.53. The volume of EZchip Semiconductor shares traded was 635% higher than normal. EZchip Semiconductor's PEG ratio is 1.57.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of EZchip (NASDAQ: EZCH  ) have jumped today by as much as 13% after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

  So what: Revenue in the first quarter totaled $15.3 million, topping the Street's forecast of $15.1 million. Non-GAAP net income per share came in at $0.23, which was right on target with expectations.

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: InterDigital Inc.(IDCC)

Interdigital, Inc. engages in the design and development of digital wireless technology solutions. The company offers technology solutions for use in digital cellular and wireless products and networks, including 2G, 3G, 4G, and IEEE 802-related products and networks. It holds patents related to the fundamental technologies that enable wireless communications. The company licenses its patents to equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular and IEEE 802-related products; and licenses or sells mobile broadband modem solutions, including modem IP, know-how, and reference platforms to mobile device manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and other equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular products. InterDigital?s solutions are incorporated in various products comprising mobile devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, notebook computers, and wireless personal digital assistants; wireless infrastructure equipment, such as base stations; and components, dongles, and modules for wireless devices. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Well, it would be inaccurate to see patent-defense companies like Vringo, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNG), InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), and Acacia Research Corp. (NASDAQ:ACTG) have been forced into going out of business. But, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say some of these so-called patent trolls are now potentially facing a much bigger legal headwind. Investors of companies like IDCC, ACTG, and VRNG may want to reassess the upside of their holdings, now that new laws regarding patent litigation have all but been put into place.

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY). Utilities shares dropped by 0.11 percent in the US market today.

Top Small Cap Stocks To Buy Right Now: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) will release its quarterly report tomorrow, and investors are hoping that the company will be able to produce the same growth that its rapidly rising stock price has promised. As with most high-growth stocks, Panera earnings will need to accelerate to make shareholders truly happy.

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  Now that Panera has become a mainstream American brand with millions of loyal customers that enjoy one of the most casual and comfortable atmospheres available,��it�� a long-term OUTPERFORM. However, a tentative consumer, a somewhat poor valuation, and an artificially-inflated stock market are reasons�for caution.

• [By Nicole Seghetti]

  Wendy's faces a challenging rebranding battle and stiff competition from fast-casual restaurants, namely Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG  ) , Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) , which the study found health-conscious consumers most likely to patronize (in that particular order). But Wendy's customers clearly care about and seek out healthy options, and the company is listening.

Best Trucking Companies To Invest In 2014

Dana Holding Corp. (DAN)(0.3%) (DAN - $23.27 - NYSE) is a Maumee, Ohio based supplier of axles, drivelines and thermal products for the automotive and trucking industries. Dana's new CEO, Roger Wood, has begun to emphasize the company's strong technological expertise in thermal management technology, including advanced battery cooling products for next generation vehicles. Additionally, the company is beginning to reap the benefits of efforts to improve customer pricing as well as internal manufacturing efficiencies, both of which are expected to improve margins amid robust demand in the company's core auto and trucking markets.From Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio)'s Gabelli Asset Fund's first quarter 2014 shareholder commentary.Also check out: Mario Gabelli Undervalued Stocks Mario Gabelli Top Growth Companies Mario Gabelli High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Mario Gabelli keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Watch For 2015: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Genworth Financial, Inc., a financial security company, provides insurance, wealth management, investment, and financial solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers various insurance and fixed annuity products, including life and long-term care insurance products; payment protection insurance products for consumers primarily to meet specified payment obligations; and wealth management products, such as managed account programs with advisor support and financial planning services. It also provides mortgage insurance products and related services to insure prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans or flow mortgage insurance; and mortgage insurance on a structured or bulk basis, as well as offers services, analytical tools, and technology that enable lenders to operate and manage risk. In addition, the company provides institutional products consisting of funding agreements, funding agreements backing notes, and guaranteed in vestment contracts. Genworth Financial, Inc. distributes its products and services through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors, affinity groups, and sales specialists. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Genworth Financial (GNW) stock was down more than 13% to $14.14 in afternoon trading.�Morgan �Stanley analysts�Nigel Dally,�Hayley Locker�and�Laura Sanchez, who� have an Underweight rating on the stock, reduced their price target by $3 to $16. But they say there could be further downside with the likelihood that Genworth takes a charge to account for increased loss reserves.

• [By Vera Yuan]

  As we mentioned earlier, stock selection in the financial sector was the primary cause of our relative underperformance during the quarter. Two of the Fund's top five detractors, Genworth (GNW) and BancorpSouth Inc. (BXS) were in the financial sector. Genworth (GNW) declined over 24 percent and cost the Fund 38 basis points of performance during the quarter. The company announced a sizeable addition to reserves for purposes of covering potential loss exposure to long-term care insurance provided to its earliest customers. This was not an unknown risk to us as we did factor this into our thinking when we established our position. However, while the reserve build was in-line with our projections, it was still a negative surprise to the street. Our view with respect to long-term care is that States will allow for premium increases, sometimes sizeable, as GNW (and others providing this insurance) are last line defenses to patients who would otherwise likely end up in Medicaid and exacerbate state budget situations. Unfortunately, a mismatch in timing occurs as claims rise first, then reserves are lifted followed by a request for premium increases. Ultimately, we feel GNW is very cheap and is in a good position to seek premium relief even as the company continues to restructure its business in both long-term care and mortgage insurance.

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, financial services company Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Hot on the heels of a $15 million Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with mortgage insurers Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) , MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG  ) , Radian Group (NYSE: RDN  ) , and United Guaranty, a subsidiary of AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , over kickbacks�paid to banks for mortgage insurance, comes some bad news in the same vein -- this time, for Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) .

Best Trucking Companies To Invest In 2014: Union First Market Bankshares Corp (UBSH)

Union First Market Bankshares Corporation is a bank holding company. The Company offers financial services through its community bank subsidiary Union First Market Bank and three non-bank financial services affiliates. The Company�� non-bank financial services affiliates are Union Mortgage Group, Inc., Union Investment Services, Inc. and Union Insurance Group, LLC. The Company operates in two segments: traditional full service community banking business and its mortgage loan origination business. The Company is a community banking organization based in Virginia and provides full service banking to the Northern, Central, Rappahannock, Shenandoah, Tidewater, and Northern Neck regions of Virginia through Union First Market Bank. Union First Market Bank (the Bank) is a full service community bank offering consumers and businesses a range of banking and related financial services, including checking, savings, certificates of deposit and other depository services, as well as loans for commercial, industrial, residential mortgage and consumer purposes. The Bank issues credit cards and delivers automated teller machine (ATM) services. The Bank also offers Internet banking services and online bill payment for all customers, whether retail or commercial. The Bank also offers private banking and trust services to individuals and corporations through its Financial Guidance Group. In January 2014, the Company acquired StellarOne Corporation.

As of December 31, 2011, Union First Market Bank operated 99 locations in the counties of Albemarle, Caroline, Chesterfield, Essex, Fairfax, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Frederick, Hanover, Henrico, James City, King George, King William, Lancaster, Loudoun, Nelson, Northumberland, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren, Washington, Westmoreland, York, and the independent cities of Charlottesville, Colonial Heights, Culpeper, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Newport News, Richmond, Staunton, Stephens City, Waynesboro, Williamsburg, and Winchester. Union First Market Bank a! lso operates loan production offices in Staunton, Winchester, and Tappahannock. Union Investment Services, Inc. provides brokerage services; Union Mortgage Group, Inc. provides a line of mortgage products, and Union Insurance Group, LLC offers various lines of insurance products. Union First Market Bank also owns a non-controlling interest in Johnson Mortgage Company, L.L.C.

Union Investment Services, Inc. provides securities, brokerage and investment advisory services. It has 11 offices within the Bank�� trade area and is a full service investment company handling all aspects of wealth management, including stocks, bonds, annuities, mutual funds and financial planning. Securities are offered through a third party contractual arrangement with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., an independent broker dealer. Union Mortgage Group, Inc., (UMG) has offices in Virginia (seven), Maryland (three), North Carolina (three), and South Carolina (two). UMG is also licensed to do business in selected states throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast, as well as Washington, D.C. It provides a variety of mortgage products to customers in those areas. The mortgage loans originated by UMG are generally sold in the secondary market through purchase agreements with institutional investors. Union Insurance Group, LLC (UIG), an insurance agency, is owned by the Bank and Union Mortgage. This agency operates in a joint venture with Bankers Insurance, LLC, an insurance agency owned by community banks across Virginia and managed by the Virginia Bankers Association. UIG generates revenue through sales of various insurance products, including long term care insurance and business owner policies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of StellarOne (NASDAQ: STEL  ) , a commercial, mortgage, and wealth management bank servicing small and medium-sized businesses in Virginia, jumped as much as 20% after agreeing to be purchased by Union First Market Bancshares (NASDAQ: UBSH  ) .

Best Trucking Companies To Invest In 2014: Sinner AG (SIN)

Sinner AG is a Germany-based company active in the lease of property. In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, 55% of the Company's rentals were leased to commercial and service companies, 31% were leased to manufacturing companies, 8% were leased to public authorities, public institutions, craft factories and others, and 6% were leased as office and residential properties. Sinner AG is majority owned by STINAG Stuttgart Invest AG, which holds a 75.14% of total share capital in the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanina Egea]

  As China enters a new phase of economic development, characterized by slower growth, analysts begin to wonder about the future of companies deeply related to state activities. Common knowledge indicates that as the economy�� growth slows down, activities at the industries associated with that growth will slow too. Nonetheless, that simple take on economics can be deceiving and an analysis of Sinopec (SIN) will uncover considerable growth opportunities. The reasoning is the following. First, the Chinese economy will not stop growing. Second, the slowdown is not a product of model exhaustion, but a mere capacity readjustment. Third, the oil and gas industry will remain a key to continue growing for the Chinese economy. And the priority placed upon the oil and gas is where growth opportunities for the industry lie. Gurus are divided over this position, but their trading activities on Sinopec have not ceased.

Best Trucking Companies To Invest In 2014: CGG SA (CGG)

CGG SA, formerly Compagnie Generale de Geophysique-Veritas, is a manufacturer of geophysical equipment and a provider of a range of seismic services in data acquisition and processing both onshore and offshore, principally to clients in the oil and gas exploration and production industry. The Company operates in two segments: Services and Equipment.

Services

The services segment includes land contract, marine contract, multi-client land and marine, and processing, imaging and reservoir. The land contract includes seismic data acquisition for land, transition zones and shallow water undertaken by the Company on behalf of a specific client. The marine contract includes seismic data acquisition offshore undertaken by the Company on behalf of a specific client. The multi-client land and marine includes seismic data acquisition undertaken by the Company and licensed to a number of clients on a non-exclusive basis. The processing, imaging and reservoir includes processing, imaging and interpretation of geophysical data, data management and reservoir studies for clients.

Land seismic acquisition includes all seismic surveying techniques where the recording sensor is either in direct contact with, or in close proximity to, the ground. The Company�� land business line offers integrated services, including the acquisition and on site processing of seismic data on land, in transition zones and on the ocean floor (shallow water and seabed surveys). It undertakes land surveys with both a contract and multi-client basis. The land operations include surveying and recording crews. Surveying crews lay out the lines to be recorded and mark the sites for shot-hole placement or equipment location. Recording crews produce acoustic impulses and use recording units to synchronize the shooting and record the seismic signals through geophones.

The Company provides a range of three-dimensional (3D) marine seismic services, principally in the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea an! d off the coasts of West Africa and Brazil, as well as in the Asia-Pacific region. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had a fleet of 19 vessels, including 11 three dimension (3D) high capacity vessels (12 or more streamers), two 10 streamer 3D vessels, three eight streamer 3D vessels and three 3D/two dimension (2D) vessels of lower capacity. Marine seismic surveys are conducted through the deployment of submersible cables (streamers) and acoustic sources (airguns) from marine vessels.

Seismic data processing operations transform seismic data acquired in the field into 2D cross-sections, or 3D images of the earth�� subsurface or four-dimensional (4D) time-lapse seismic data using Geovation and Hampson-Russell software, or third party applications. These images are then interpreted by geophysicists and geologists for use by oil and gas companies in evaluating prospective areas, selecting drilling sites and managing producing reservoirs. The Company provides seismic data processing and reservoir services through the network of data processing centers and reservoir teams located worldwide. As of December 31, 2011, it operated 43 worldwide processing and imaging centers, including 13 dedicated client centers.

Equipment

The Company conducts its equipment development and production operations through Sercel and its subsidiaries. Sercel operates five seismic equipment manufacturing facilities, located in Nantes and Saint Gaudens in France, Houston, Singapore and Alfreton in England. In China, Sercel operates through Hebei Sercel-JunFeng Geophysical Equipment Co. Ltd, based in Hebei. Sercel offers and supports worldwide a range of geophysical equipment for seismic data acquisition, including seismic recording equipment, software and seismic sources, and provides its clients with integrated solutions. Sercel�� principal product line is seismic recording equipment, particularly the 400 family of recording systems, the 408UL and the 428XL. Sercel also markets for vibros! eismic ve! hicles and for vibrator electronic systems (VE 464). Sercel develops and produces a range of geophysical equipment for seismic data acquisition and other ancillary geophysical products, such as geophones, cables and connectors.

The Company competes with WesternGeco, Global Geophysical Services, BGP, Geokinetics, PGS, Fugro and Ion Geophysical Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  First up is French oil service firm CGG Veritas (CGG)
  . The Eurozone-based energy stock hasn't exactly posted blockbuster performance in 2013, but investors who ignore CGG for the final stretch of the year could be making a big mistake. That's because of a bullish technical pattern that's emerging in shares right now.

  CGG spent most of the last eight months looking anything but bullish. But an ascending triangle pattern is changing that. The pattern is formed by horizontal resistance to the upside at $26, and uptrending support to the below shares. Basically, as CGG bounces in between those two technical levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above $26. When that happens, traders have a buy signal.

  The ascending triangle pattern in CGG Veritas isn't exactly textbook. That's because the setup is forming at the bottom of a downtrend, rather than in the middle of an uptrend – but it's a mistake to get caught up on the textbook pictures of what trading patterns are supposed to look like. On a move through $26, the trading implications are just as actionable.

Top 5 Tech Companies To Own In Right Now

The annual Value Investor Conference is one of the premier events surrounding�Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-B  ) annual meeting in Omaha. The Motley Fool's Joe Magyer, Michael Olsen, and Rex Moore were in attendance and talked to several value investors.

In today's video, Joe chats with Wedgewood Partners' David Rolfe, whose two largest holdings are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Berkshire.

Take a bite?
There's no doubt that Apple is at the center of technology's largest revolution ever and that longtime shareholders have been handsomely rewarded, with more than 1,000% gains. However, there is a debate raging as to whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool's senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on reasons to buy and reasons to sell Apple and what opportunities are left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

Hot Oil Companies To Invest In Right Now: ArQule Inc.(ARQL)

ArQule, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in the research and development of cancer therapeutics directed toward molecular targets and biological processes. Its lead product ARQ 197 is non-adenosine triphosphate competitive inhibitor of the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase, which is being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination therapy in a Phase II clinical development program that includes trials in non-small cell lung cancer, c-Met-associated soft tissue sarcomas, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, germ cell tumors, and colorectal cancer. The company is also developing ARQ 621, a Phase I program focused on inhibition of the Eg5 kinesin spindle protein. Its clinical stage products include ARQ 501, ARQ 761, and ARQ 171, which are designed to kill cancer cells selectively while sparing normal cells through the direct activation of DNA damage response/checkpoint pathways. In addition, the company involves in pre-clinical development o f B-RAF and AKIP Kinase inhibitors. The company has collaborations with Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. ArQule, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  ArQule (ARQL), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, researches and develops cancer therapeutics. This stock closed up 3.4% to $1.49 in Thursday's trading session.

   

  Thursday's Range: $1.44-$1.54
  
  52-Week Range: $1.29-$2.94
  
  Thursday's Volume: 908,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 567,811

   

  From a technical perspective, ARQL jumped higher here right above some near-term support at $1.40 with above-average volume. This move briefly pushed shares of ARQL back above its 50-day moving average of $1.53, before the stock closed just below that level at $1.49. This move is starting to push shares of ARQL within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if ARQL manages to take out some near-term overhead resistance levels at $1.54 to $1.60 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ARQL as long as it's trending above some near-term support levels at $1.40 or at $1.35 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 567,811 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ARQL will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $1.66 to $1.78, or even $1.90 to $2.

   

Top 5 Tech Companies To Own In Right Now: Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc(SVNT)

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing KRYSTEXXA, a biologic PEGylated uricase in the United States. The KRYSTEXXA is being developed as a treatment for chronic gout in patients refractory to conventional therapy. The company also sells and distributes branded and generic versions of oxandrolone, a drug used to promote weight gain following involuntary weight loss. It sells its products directly to drug wholesalers. The company, formerly known as Bio-Technology General Corp. and changed its name to Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in June 2003. Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  It's still too soon to say Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SVNT) is off and running. In fact, the stock's decidedly NOT off and running yet. But, it's not too soon to put SVNT on your watchlist of potential breakout candidates, as it's much closer to a breakout than most anyone can see.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Since 2008's implosion from the stock, the interest in Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:SVNT) has been waning. There was a brief burst of bullishness in September of last year, which stirred the bullish pot a little. But, when SVNT started to fade in October of that year - just as quickly as it had perked up - what lingering hopes there were for the stock finally started to melt away. By the middle of this year, pretty much everyone had written Savient Pharmaceuticals off as a lost cause. Big mistake. Over the last few days, SVNT has almost wiggled its way buck into a bullish zone.

Top 5 Tech Companies To Own In Right Now: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: After a two-day run-up in solar stocks, the party ended quickly, and every stock in the industry is dropping like a rock. Suntech Power (NYSE: STP  ) led the declines by falling 23%, and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , and JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO  ) all dropped at least 15%.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) is to be the supplier to a large-scale solar power plant in its home continent of Asia. The company announced it had reached a deal for its Singapore subsidiary to supply over 10 MW of its multicrystalline photovoltaic modules to a solar facility in Malaysia.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of Chinese solar manufacturers Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) both jumped 10% after the latter announced a new loan.

Top 5 Tech Companies To Own In Right Now: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc.(KTOS)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical products, services, and solutions in the United States. The company?s Kratos Government Solutions segment offers various services comprising weapon systems sustainment, lifecycle support, and extension; command, control, communications, computing, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services, including cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, information assurance, and situational awareness solutions; military range operations and technical services; missile, rocket, and weapons systems test and evaluation; mission launch services; modeling and simulation; unmanned aerial vehicle products and technology; advanced network engineering and information technology services; and public safety, security, and surveillance systems integration. Its Public Safety & Security segment provides independent integrated solutions for homeland security, public safety, critical information, and security and su rveillance systems. This segment?s solutions consists of designing, installing, and servicing building technologies that protect people, critical infrastructure, assets, information, and property in various areas, such as the design, engineering, and operation of command and control centers; design, engineering, deployment, and integration of access control; building automation and control; communications; digital and closed circuit television security and surveillance; fire and life safety; maintenance services; and product support services. The company primarily serves the United States government agencies, including the department of defense, classified agencies, intelligence agencies, other national security agencies, and homeland security related agencies. The company was formerly known as Wireless Facilities, Inc. and changed its name to Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. in September 2007. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in San Diego, Cali fornia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  On Monday, the Department of Defense awarded 19 contracts, which added�up to just under $1.5 billion in total value. The largest award went to a private company to pay for "full line food distribution" in Okinawa. But even so, there were a few contracts worth noting, going to publicly traded companies:

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now

LONDON -- Sports Direct (LSE: SPD  ) this morning announced that it has�entered into separate agreements to acquire majority stakes in two leading European sporting-goods retailers.

The first is a 51% equity stake in Sports Eybl & Sports Experts AG, which is the leading sporting-goods retailer in Austria with about 25% of market share and is a family owned company with 80 years of history under its belt.�

Sports Direct's acquisition is valued at 10.5 million euros payable to current EAG shareholders, with 30 million euros in subordinated debt also due to be invested in EAG. The agreement also allows Sports Direct the right to acquire the remaining shares in EAG from the Eybl Family for 15.5 million euros for five years following completion, while the Eybl Family also has the right to sell its remaining shares in EAG to Sports Direct for 5 million euros over the period.

The second agreement that Sports Direct announced this morning was a 60% equity stake purchase of Sportland International Group, the largest sporting-goods retailer in the Baltic region. SIG operates the Sportland, Sportland Outlet, Timberland, O'Neill, Nike, and Nike Outlet retail chains in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

5 Best Life Sciences Stocks To Watch For 2015: Fast Retailing Co Ltd (FRCOF)

FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. is a Japan-based holding company primarily engaged in the clothing business. The Company operates in three business segments. The UNIQLO segment is engaged in the sale of casual clothing such as men's, women's, children's and babies' clothing, as well as other goods in domestic market and overseas markets under the brand name of UNIQLO. The Global Brand segment is engaged in the planning, manufacture and sale of clothing under the brands of COMPTOIR DES COTONNIERS, PRINCESSE TAM.TAM, Theory, Helmut Lang, PLST and others in domestic and overseas markets. The Others segment is involved in the leasing of real estate and others. As of August 31, 2012, the Company had 91 consolidated subsidiaries and six non-consolidated subsidiaries. In December, 2012, it acquired a 80.1% stake in United States-based J Brand Holdings, LLC. In September 2013, it established a wholly owned subsidiary, J Brand Japan Co., Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks have ended with losses in every session this week, and sure enough, the Nikkei Average (JP:NIK) was down 0.6% in early Friday trade, though off an opening 0.8% defecit, while the Topix carried a 0.7% loss. Overnight losses for the U.S. and further strength in the yen (with the dollar falling to 楼101.28 from 楼101.56 a day earlier) helped drag the market lower, as did results from Fast Retailing Co. (JP:9983) (FRCOF) , the shares of which hold the heaviest weighting on Nikkei Average. Fast Retailing said that while its Uniqlo brand was doing great business, weakness for its J Brand luxury demin label helped send September-May profit down 4% and prompted another cut to Fast's full-year outlook. Consequently, its shares traded 0.7% lower, though rivals Takashimaya Co. (JP:8233) and J. Front Retailing Co. (JP:3086) (JFROF) also saw losses of 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. Among other decliners, Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) lost 0.7%, Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502) (TOSYY) fell 2.1%, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. (JP:7012) (KWHIY) fell 1.5%, Toyota Motor Corp. (JP:7203) (TM) and Nissan Motor Co. (JP:7201)

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks weakened in early Thursday trading as the yen rose and Wall Street ended mixed, with the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) falling 1.2% to 15,929.74 after a 1.9% advance a day earlier. With the yen (USDJPY) slightly firmer than in the previous session, some investors sold currency-sensitive exporters, with Fanuc Corp. (JP:6954) (FANUF) down 2%, Kyocera Corp. (JP:6971) (KYOCF) off 1.9%, and Fujitsu Ltd. (JP:6702) (FJTSY) losing 2.3%. News that China would lift a ban on some sales of videogame consoles had sent shares of Nintendo Co. (JP:7974) (NTDOF) shooting 11% higher on Wednesday, but apparent profit-taking sent the stock down 4.2% in early Thursday action. Shares of rival Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) , however, followed with a 4% rise, also possibly buoyed by a Nikkei Asian Review report that it was planning a "smartphone offensive" in the U.S. and China. Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) fell 2% on a separate Nikkei report that the company's 2013 operating profit would miss forecasts. Toshiba Corp. (JP:6502) (TOSYY)

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Stocks in Japan started with losses Friday, the final session before the release of the closely watched U.S. jobs report later in the day. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) shed 0.3% to 15,836.37, as the yen edged higher against the U.S. dollar overnight, and the broader Topix gave up 0.5%. Tech issues were mostly lower, including a 3.3% pullback in Trend Micro Inc. (JP:4704) (TMICY) , and a 2.7% decline in Nintendo Co. (JP:7974) (NTDOF) . Nintendo shares rallied Thursday after China temporarily lifted a ban on manufacturing and selling video game consoles within in the country. But among Friday's best performers were shares of Fast Retailing Co. (JP:9983) (FRCOF) , up 4.4% after the company posted a nearly 9% rise in its fiscal first-quarter net profit to 楼41.85 billion ($399 million). Sales were driven by a nearly 80% gain in Fast Retailing's overseas sales at Uniqlo stores.

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: Five Below Inc (FIVE)

Five Below, Inc. (Five Below), incorporated on January 30, 2002, is a retailer offering a range of merchandise for teen and pre-teen customer. The Company offers products, including select brands and licensed merchandise across a number of categories, which it refer to as worlds-Style, Room, Sports, Media, Crafts, Party, Candy and Seasonal (which it refer to as Now). As of October 27, 2012, The Company operated 243 stores throughout the eastern half of the United States. Its Style consists primarily of accessories such as novelty socks, sunglasses, jewelry, scarves, gloves, hair accessories and attitude t-shirts. Its beauty offering includes products such as nail polish, lip gloss, fragrance and branded cosmetics. Its Room consists of items used to complete and personalize its customer�� living space, including glitter lamps, posters, frames, fleece blankets, pillows, candles, incense and related items. The Company also offers storage options for the customer�� room and locker.

The Company�� Sports consists of an assortment of sport balls, team sports merchandise and fitness accessories, including hand weights, jump ropes and gym balls. It also offers a variety of games, including name brand board games, puzzles, toys and plush items. In the summer season, its sports offering also include pool, beach and outdoor toys, games and accessories. Its Media consists of a selection of accessories for personal computers (PCs), cell phones, Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio (MP3) players and tablet computers. The offering includes cases, chargers, headphones and other related items. It also carries a range of media products including books, video games and Digital Versatile Disc (DVDs). It offers an assortment of craft activity kits, as well as arts and crafts supplies, such as crayons, markers and stickers. It also offer trend-right items for school, such as backpacks, fashion notebooks and journals, novelty pens and pencils, as well as everyday name brand items.

The C! ompany�� Party consists of party goods, decorations and greeting cards, as well as everyday and special occasion merchandise. Its Candy consists of branded items that appeal to teens and pre-teens. This category includes an assortment of classic and novelty candy bars and movie-size box candy, as well as gum and snack food. It also sells chilled drinks through coolers. Its Seasonal consists of seasonally-specific items used to celebrate and decorate for events such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween and St. Patrick�� Day.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  www.youtube.com There were plenty of winners and losers this week on Wall Street, with a restaurant chain embracing more natural ingredients and an old website digging into your past to woo you back. Here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders. YouTube -- Winner It's been two summers since Psy uploaded the official "Gangnam Style" video to Google's (GOOG) YouTube. It blew up as a global single later in the year. This week, it surpassed 2 billion views on YouTube. It's a notable achievement for the South Korean pop music star, but it's also a big deal for YouTube. After all, the milestone shows how popular YouTube is as a video-sharing platform. Most folks may have tired of the video and the song ages ago, but clips live on forever in cyberspace. YouTube just validated itself again. MySpace -- Loser Speaking of bringing pop stars to life, MySpace -- yes, MySpace -- turned heads this week by sending out old photos posted years ago to the emails of folks with dormant accounts. MySpace had its moment in the sun before giving way to Facebook (FB), but the social networking dinosaur now jointly owned by Specific Media and pop icon Justin Timberlake, is struggling to regain its relevance. Sending old pics to folks that have moved on may seem like a clever tactic given the popularity of Throwback Thursday, but it comes off desperate at best, and creepy at worst. Panera Bread (PNRA) -- Winner Panera became the latest eatery to climb onto the organic food bandwagon this week. The chain of bakery cafes revised its food policy, moving to do rid its menu of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives by 2016. It's a smart move for Panera. Growth at the former quick-service darling has been slowing lately, with analysts targeting top- and bottom-line growth in the mid-single digits. Anything it can do to beef up its profile with the growing number of consumers angling for natural foods will only help. Walmart (WMT) -- Loser The world's larg

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Investors hoping to take advantage of the planned Five Below (NASDAQ: FIVE  ) secondary share issue will have to wait for another day. The company announced that, "in light of current capital market conditions," the offering has been postponed; it did not specify whether it has been rescheduled.

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy 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 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: Family Dollar Stores Inc.(FDO)

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. operates a chain of self-service retail discount stores primarily for low and middle income consumers in the United States. The company offers consumables, including household chemicals, paper products, candy and snack products, health and beauty aids, hardware and automotive supplies, and pet food products and supplies; and home products, which comprise domestics, housewares, giftware products, and home decor products. It also provides apparel products and accessories consisting of men?s and women?s clothing products, boys? and girls? clothing products, infants? clothing products, shoes, and fashion accessories; and seasonal products and electronics, such as toys, stationery and school supplies, seasonal goods, and personal electronics. As of August 11, 2011, the company operated approximately 7,000 stores in rural and urban settings across 44 states. Family Dollar Stores, Inc. was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina .

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Family Dollar Stores (FDO) surged in late trading Friday after investor Carl Icahn disclosed a 9% stake in the discount retailer. Icahn said "Hope to continue our streak of value enhancement," in a tweet disclosing the position. The stock hit a 52-week low of $55.64 in May.

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: Target Corporation(TGT)

Target Corporation operates general merchandise stores in the United States. The company offers household essentials, including pharmacy, beauty, personal care, baby care, cleaning, and paper products; hardlines comprising music, movies, books, computer software, sporting goods, and toys, as well as electronics that comprise video game hardware and software; apparel and accessories consisting of apparel for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, infants, and newborns; and intimate apparel, jewelry, accessories, and shoes. It also provides food and pet supplies, including dry grocery, dairy, frozen food, beverages, candy, snacks, deli, bakery, meat, produce, and pet supplies; and home furnishings and d�or, such as furniture, lighting, kitchenware, small appliances, home d�or, bed and bath, home improvement, and automotive products, as well as seasonal merchandise, which include patio furniture and holiday d�or. The company sells its merchandise products under private-labe l and exclusive licensed brands. In addition, it provides in-store amenities. As of January 28, 2012, Target Corporation operated 1,763 stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia under Target and SuperTarget names. Further, it offers general merchandise through its Website, Target.com. The company distributes its merchandise through a network of distribution centers, as well as third parties and direct shipping from vendors. Additionally, it offers credit to guests through its branded proprietary credit cards, the Target Visa Credit Card and the Target Credit Card, as well as through its branded proprietary Target Debit Card. Target Corporation was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By DAILYFINANCE]

  Gary Malerba/AP Neiman Marcus says 1.1 million debit and credit cards used at its stores may have been compromised in a security breach last year. The high-end retailer said Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and Discover (DFS) have found 2,400 Neiman Marcus and Last Call customer cards that were used fraudulently. Last Call is Neiman Marcus' clearance chain. Neiman Marcus says it is notifying all customers who shopped in its stores in 2013 and offering them a free year of credit monitoring and identity-theft protection. Malicious software installed in Neiman Marcus' system attempted to take customer card information from July 16 to Oct. 30, the company said. The malicious software has been disabled. Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. reiterated in a post on its website Wednesday night that social security numbers and birth dates weren't stolen and customers who shopped online weren't affected. Customers that use its private Neiman Marcus credit cards were also not affected. The Dallas-based company said the investigation is ongoing. The company learned that malicious software was installed to its system on Jan. 1, after a forensics company discovered it. It informed federal law enforcement agencies and began working with the U.S. Secret Service and payment processors. Target (TGT) also suffered a security breach, during the holiday shopping season. Hackers stole about 40 million debit and credit card numbers. Personal information, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses of as many as 70 million customers was also stolen. Neiman Marcus said it has no knowledge of a connection between the two security breaches. A report published earlier this month by iSight Partners, a global cyber intelligence firm that works with the U.S. Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security, said the security breach that hit Target appears to have been part of a broader and highly sophisticated scam that potentially affected a large number of retailers.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Can Best Buy offer something different?
  As a consumer, the question I have is: Why should I go to Best Buy? I buy music and movies online and I'm at Target (NYSE: TGT  ) regularly where I can pick up random electronics or even a TV. Amazon fills most specialized needs and appliances aren't frequent purchases for me or most people. So, why would I go to Best Buy?

• [By FinanceGuru]

  There is no doubt about the fact that a sizeable chunk of the world population has been touched by the Internet and that people have now gone online for most things like shopping, medical help and even raising funds for start-ups. While this is definitely a positive step in terms of technology advancement, this shift to the online world has done reasonable damage to the offline retail industry comprising of huge retail chains like Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp (TGT) and Costco (COST). However, Costco has been above the rest in terms of delivering consistent results because of its robust membership model, high employee morale and effective cost management.

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: 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]

  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:

• [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.

Top 10 Retail Companies To Buy Right Now: SK3 Group Inc (SKTO)

SK3 Group, Inc. (SK3), formerly CTT International Distributors Inc., is a development-stage company. The Company was formed by the merger of Slabsdirect.com, Inc. and CTT International Distributors Inc. SK3 has one subsidiary, CTT Distributors Ltd., which is the operating company. SK3 is in the e-commerce business and provides non-branded computer and electronic merchandise at discount prices to the Internet consumer through its Website www.cheaperthanthem.com. The Website is hosted by Ezyra E-Business Services, an unrelated party, which charges SK3 an annual fee to host the Website. In December 2009, Healthcare of Today, Inc. acquired controlling interest in the Company. In December 2009, the Company acquired NuvoDigital Technology, Inc., a data security technology firm based in Salt Lake City. In addition, in December 2009, the Company's parent company Healthcare of Today, Inc. acquired Xenotis Pty Ltd. In February 2011, the Company acquired PRN Registry. In March 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of HealthStaff Training Institute. In March 2011, the Company acquired W&M Medical Management, Inc. Effective March 14, 2013, the Company acquired Medical Greens, a provider of medical logistics services.

SK3 has a direct business, in which it buys and takes possession of excess electronic and computer inventory for resale (Direct Business). In addition, SK3 has a fulfillment partner business, in which SK3 facilitates the sale of merchandise of other retailers, cataloguers or manufacturers (Fulfillment Associates) through the Website (Fulfillment Business). For both the direct business and fulfillment business, SK3 has developed a consumer and a wholesaler sales channel.

SK3�� Direct Business involves buying and taking possession of inventory for resale. The Company offers moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players and a frequency modulation (FM) transmitter accessory for MP3 players on the Website. SK3 seeks to become an online retailer offering non-b! randed electronic and computer merchandise for sale over the Internet. SK3�� Fulfillment Business sells merchandise of Fulfillment Associates through the Website. SK3 manages the orders collected for the Fulfillment Associates through the Website and forwards the orders on to the Fulfillment Associate, who then fills the order. The Fulfillment Associates perform essentially the same operations as a warehouse: order picking and shipping.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Truth be told, it's not clear if SK3 Group Inc. (OTCMKTS:SKTO) is best described when compared to a name like Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN), or to a Gentiva Health Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:GTIV). The company's got elements of both major industries being represented by CERN and GTIV (home health care, and information technology), with the addition of another budding industry thrown into the mix. One thing IS clear though... SKTO shares have decidedly reversed a nasty downtrend, and may now be one of the market's best small cap healthcare speculative trades.