Is Now the Time to Buy Legal & General Group?

LONDON -- I'm always searching for shares that can help ordinary investors like you make money from the stock market.

So right now I am trawling through the FTSE 100 and giving my verdict on every member of the blue-chip index. Simply put, I'm hoping to pinpoint the very best buying opportunities in today's uncertain market.

Today I am looking at Legal & General  (LSE: LGEN  ) (NASDAQOTH: LGGNY  ) to determine whether you should consider buying the shares at 168 pence.

I am assessing each company on several ratios:

Price/Earnings (P/E): Does the share look like a good value when compared against its competitors?

Price earnings growth (PEG): Does the share look good value factoring in predicted growth?

Yield: Does the share provide a solid income for investors?

Dividend cover: Is the dividend sustainable?

Let's look at the numbers:

Stock Price 3-Yr. EPS Growth Projected P/E PEG Yield 3-Yr. Dividend Growth Dividend Cover

Legal & General	168p	0%	11.4	1.4	4.6%	61%	1.8

The consensus analyst estimate for next year's earnings per share is 14.8 pence (8% growth) and dividend per share is 8.3 pence (9% growth).

Trading on a projected P/E of 11.4, Legal & General appears cheaper than its peers in the Life Insurance sector, which are currently trading on an average P/E of around 12.7.

Legal & General's P/E and high single-digit growth rate give a PEG ratio of around 1.4, which implies the share is slightly expensive for the near-term earnings growth the firm is expected to produce.

Offering a 4.6% yield, the group's dividend income is greater than the insurance sector average of 3.9%. Furthermore, Legal & General has a three-year compounded dividend growth rate of 61%, implying the yield will continue to stay above that of its peers.

Indeed, the dividend is nearly twice covered by earnings, giving the firm plenty room for further payout growth.

So, now the time to buy Legal & General?
As I have written in the table above, growth has been slow at this life insurance provider over the past few years. However, I believe that now could be the time to buy.

You see, life insurance is a product that is highly resistant to the economic climate. Indeed, I understand demand for life insurance products is influenced more by the ageing population and government welfare cuts than economic conditions, which should give Legal & General a very defensive nature.

Furthermore, due to the structure of life insurance products, where the client pays a recurring premium for a payout in the future, Legal & General enjoys a predictable and dependable cash flow.

In particular, this dependable cash flow has translated into dependable dividend payouts for shareholders, as the company has steadily increased its dividend by 60% over the past 10 years, despite the credit crisis in 2008.

Top Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014

That said, the firm did reduce its payout slightly in 2008 and 2009 -- which in hindsight proved a good buying opportunity as my calculations show the shares back then offered a dividend yield of around 6%.

However, I remain positive on the share, and based on the company's solid dividend yield and that P/E discount to the sector, I believe now looks to be a good time to buy Legal & General at 168 pence.

More FTSE opportunities
As well as Legal & General, I am also positive on the FTSE 100 share highlighted within thisexclusive free report.

You see, the blue chip in question offers a 5.7% income, its shares might be worth 850 pence compared to about 700 pence now -- and it has just been declared "The Motley Fool's Top Income Stock for 2013"!

Just click here to read the report -- it's free.

In the meantime, please stay tuned for my next verdict on a FTSE 100 share.

Getting Rich from Military Technology, Part I

When you listen to military communications, a lot of words are slang, and actually have quite distinct meanings. For example, there was this time, long ago during my Navy days, when my squadron was working up out at NAS Fallon, Nevada. ("Working up" is Navy shorthand for getting everyone qualified to deploy.)

We were out on a bombing range, flying a racecourse pattern, taking turns rolling inbound on a practice stretch. We would line up, release our weapons one at a time and then get graded on bombing accuracy. Eventually, I made a radio call and said, "We're Winchester, bingo, RTB Fallon."

Huh? What did I say? Basically, I told the controller that we had dropped all our bombs, were out of ammunition ("Winchester"), were low on fuel ("bingo") and had to return to base ("RTB") at Fallon. The idea in Navy communications is that you want to keep it short and pack a lot of information into your calls.

The Vampire Call

Out on the front lines — out where the gray ships deploy — there are all manner of other coded words specific to the deployment area and any perceived threats. There's one call, however, that strikes fear into everyone's heart… the "vampire" alert.

A radio call of "Vampire, vampire" does NOT mean that there's a teenage movie about underage girls who fall in love with guys from Transylvania on the ship's TV system.

No, the "vampire" call means that there's a missile inbound, moving at high speed toward the aircraft carrier or its battle group. Somebody, somewhere has shot a missile at your floating home away from home. In the days of the Cold War, the battle-space problem was Soviet missiles.

Out in the Western Pacific, where I deployed, the Russians typically sent out swarms of gigantic Tu-95 Bear bombers, which carried missiles the size of small airliners.

It used to threaten the fleet with long-range missiles.
Now, this Bear is a museum piece.
BWK Photo, Monino Air Museum, Moscow

Or sometimes, there were Soviet surface ships loaded with batteries of supersonic missiles designed to kill carriers. Or it could have been the formidable Oscar class of submarine, also stuffed with missiles that it could launch underwater.

One thing was for sure, however. If you were out flying around and saw a missile trail, you were supposed to hit the microphone key and shout, "Vampire!" The idea was to get everyone's attention at the speed of light. You wanted to get the tracking radars pulsing and quickly to find those killer pipes trailing fire.

What then? Our doctrine was that the battle group would react and, at first, attempt to jam the inbound "vampires" with electronic countermeasures, or spoof the rockets with chaff and flares. Or perhaps if that wasn't working, one or more of our destroyers or cruisers would fire missiles to shoot down the incoming bad guys.

Best Investments For 2014

As a last-ditch measure — when reaction times were down to fractions of a second — all of the Navy ships had one or more Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS), which are high-speed Gatling-type guns for putting a wall of shells in front of those enemy missiles. Whatever works, right?

As we went through our drills out on deployment, many were the times when we sat around the ready room discussing how to defend against those Soviet missiles. Wouldn't it have been nice to have something like those "phaser" systems, like in Star Trek? Dream on, right?

And what of today? Is there still a missile problem out there? Do battle group commanders and sailors up and down the line still worry about "vampire" calls? Well, in the past 22 years since the end of the Cold War, the missile threat has actually gotten worse, what with arms proliferation across the globe. We're still waiting for that Star Trek defense.

Hold that thought.

The Russian's "Missing Elements"

Speaking of the Russians, in 1869, Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev categorized all of the elements then known to science, based on atomic weight and other properties. He laid out the elements, lightest to heaviest on a table. In the process, Mendeleev noted several gaps. It appeared that some elements were just… missing.

Mendeleev's original table, with "missing" elements.

Changing the Nature of Computing and Warfare

Today, nearly 145 years later, one of Mendeleev's "missing elements" holds the key to a technological revolution, a profitable technological revolution.

This element — long since discovered — forms the foundation to a recent breakthrough that will revolutionize the world of digital computing, and even change the nature of weaponry and war.

We're literally on the ground floor here. This tech is so new that it's scarcely out of the lab. Indeed, the only samples of this new tech come from specially built bench-model systems. But that's about to change, because, as you likely know from cellphones and flat-screen televisions, great new tech ideas seldom remain hidden in the shadows for long.

This new tech breakthrough will create vast new fortunes, upturn entire industries (and create new ones, too) and give sleepless nights to corporate strategists and military planners across the world. What is it?

Find out tomorrow in Part II of this story…

Best,
Byron King

5 Stocks With Bad Analyst Earnings Revisions — CQP ATE WTSL IMI AVNW

Popular Posts: 9 Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Now7 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now10 Best “Strong Buy” Stocks — QIHU POWR UA and more Recent Posts: Hottest Healthcare Stocks Now – AEGR RDY HGR OMI Hottest Technology Stocks Now – IGTE HOLI SNDK SYMC Biggest Movers in Basic Materials Stocks Now – NG SWC IAG CLW View All Posts

This week, these five stocks have the worst ratings in Analyst Earnings Revisions, one of the eight Fundamental Categories on Portfolio Grader.

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. () owns and operates the Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal located in western Cameron Parish, Louisiana on the Sabine Pass Channel. CQP also gets F’s in Equity and Cash Flow. .

Advantest Corp. Sponsored ADR () manufactures and sells semiconductor and component test system products, and mechatronics-related products. ATE also gets F’s in Earnings Momentum, Equity, Cash Flow, Operating Margin Growth and Sales Growth. The price of ATE is down 18% since the first of the year. This is worse than the S&P 500, which has remained flat. .

Wet Seal, Inc. Class A () operates stores that sell fashionable and contemporary apparel and accessory items for female customers. WTSL also gets F’s in Equity, Cash Flow and Sales Growth. The price of WTSL is down 38.5% since the first of the year. .

Intermolecular, Inc. () is a semiconductor and clean energy technology platform company. IMI also gets an F in Equity. Since January 1, IMI has fallen 48.1%. .

Aviat Networks () engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of a range of wireless networking products, solutions, and services worldwide. AVNW gets F’s in Equity, Cash Flow and Sales Growth as well. The price of AVNW is down 21.7% since the first of the year. .

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Top 10 Undervalued Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Top 10 Undervalued Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Berr]

  Multilevel marketing (MLM) groups such as Herbalife operate through independent sales representatives, who earn money both through the sales of product and by recruiting other peop! le to join their team. This business model — which is used by scores of companies, including Pampered Chef, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tupperware (TUP) and Mary Kay Cosmetics — is legal provided that actual products are sold.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Corporate earnings took a back seat today to the Fed's latest policy decision. Still, quarterly financial results, and other news sent shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) and Tupperware (TUP), falling during regular market hours Here's a rundown of several of today's moves:

• [By John Kell]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Wednesday’s session are Dow Chemical Co.(DOW), Tupperware Brands Corp.(TUP) and Yahoo Inc.(YHOO)

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Herbalife have gained 0.9% to $79.51 this morning in pre-open trading. Its shares have gained 139% this year, a nice gain, but lagging Nu Skin Enterprises 271% rise. Avon Products (AVP), another multi-level marketer, has gained 21% so far this year, while Tupperware Brands (TUP) has risen 49%.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-undervalued-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Hot Clean Energy Companies To Invest In Right Now

Hot Clean Energy Companies To Invest In Right Now: Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund Inc (ETF)

Aberdeen Emerging Markets Smaller Company Opportunities Fund Inc (the Fund), formerly Aberdeen Emerging Markets Telecommunications and Infrastructure Fund, Inc., non-diversified management investment company. The Fund's principal investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, at least 80% of the Fund's net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, are invested in equity and debt securities of emerging markets telecommunications companies and of infrastructure companies. In addition, under normal market conditions, at least 20% (but not more than 24.9% at the time of purchase) of the Fund's net assets will be invested in equity and debt securities of companies in the infrastructure industry. Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited (AAML) serves as the Fund's investment adviser with respect to all investments. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Bieglmeier]

  [Related -SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (GLD): What Will Move Gold As Ukraine Crisis Eases?]

  Back to atomic Number 79; iStock thought a 3-T review of gold might be timely as many investors might be wondering if the recent vertical drop is a buying opportunity or if it is best to stand on the sidelines.

• [By Mani]

  [Related -SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (GLD): Is It Time To Buy Gold?]

  UBS strategist Edel Tully expects gold will remain bid so long as Ukraine/Russia tensions remain high, but that needs to come from fresh longs as gross shorts are now much reduced.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-clean-energy-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

5 Rocket Stocks to Buy as Stocks Test Highs

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- We're kicking off an important week for stocks this morning, even if it doesn't feel like it.

>>5 Stocks Ready for Breakouts

The S&P 500 has spent the last four trading sessions moving sideways, but it's been consolidating just 1 percentage point shy of all-time highs. On Friday, the big index hit the highest trading volume it's seen in almost a year before reversing to close 0.29% lower on the day. All of that is a pretty clear indication that there's a big battle going on between buyers and sellers right now.

If buyers can wrestle control, it could spark a big rally in the S&P. Otherwise, if sellers take command of stocks, it'll mean a correction. Either way it resolves, we're positioning ourselves for the best upside by taking a look at five new "Rocket Stock" names this week.

>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

For the uninitiated, "Rocket Stocks" are our list of companies with short-term gain catalysts and longer-term growth potential. To find them, I run a weekly quantitative screen that seeks out stocks with a combination of analyst upgrades and positive earnings surprises to identify rising analyst expectations, a bullish signal for stocks in any market. After all, where analysts' expectations are increasing, institutional cash often follows. In the last 241 weeks, our weekly list of five plays has outperformed the S&P 500 by 81.23%.

Without further ado, here's a look at this week's Rocket Stocks.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo (PEP) may be best known for its soda products, but they're only half the story. That's because 50% of this Rocket Stock's revenues come from food brands like Doritos, Lay's, and Quaker. That bifurcated business has been attracting the attention of investors this year, as prominent shareholders pitch the idea of splitting PepsiCo into two separate companies. PEP makes the case that shareholders are best-served by keeping Pepsi as a single company, and their case makes a lot of sense.

>>5 Toxic Stocks to Sell Now

As the biggest snack food maker in the world, and the No. 2 non-alcoholic beverage company, Pepsi's huge scale comes in handy at keeping distribution costs low. Today, North America still provides around 40% of sales, an outsized stat that leaves a lot of clear runway for growth abroad. That sort of growth opportunity is rare for a $125 billion company, and it warrants a premium from investors.

PepsiCo has historically also generated impressive growth through acquisitions. By buying snack food brands that are enjoying strong sales, PEP can augment its offerings in a way that a pure-play beverage stock can't. And don't forget about the dividend -- currently, PEP pays out a 2.76% dividend yield.

Delta Air Lines

A decade ago, if you'd told a room full of portfolio managers that airlines would be the hottest industry on the market during the age of triple-digit crude oil prices, you would have been laughed off stage. But sure enough, that's exactly what's been playing out in the past year. And legacy carrier Delta Air Lines (DAL) has been one of the best-positioned names to take advantage of the trend.

>>5 Stocks Insiders Love Right Now

Delta is one of the country's biggest airlines, with more than 720 aircraft serving 247 mainline destinations globally. Delta's scale changed dramatically when it merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008, a move that's finally creating some big cost savings (and margin expansion) for the firm. As a legacy carrier, Delta's model is centered around spoke-and-hub flying -- but it also includes some of the industry's most profitable international routes, and a very popular frequent flyer program. Both of those factors mitigate the inconvenience of domestic layovers among the most profitable passengers.

Not that Delta has been opposed to different approaches, though; the firm has a 49% investment stake in Virgin Atlantic, for instance. Likewise, marketing efforts, like Delta's long-standing partnership with American Express (AXP), gives it access to a one of the largest issuers of corporate charge cards -- and incentivizes those business flyers to buy Delta tickets. The result is one of the highest operating margins in the airline business -- and Rocket Stock status this week.

Keurig Green Mountain

Earlier this month, one of 2014's biggest momentum stocks got a new name. On March 10, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters announced that it was changing its name to Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR), a move that puts the firm's hugely successful Keurig brand front-and-center going forward. Keurig is the GMCR's brand of beverage brewers that use self-contained K-Cups to make coffee, teas and other drinks. That "other drinks" catch-all is where the emphasis is going this year; a major deal with (and huge investment from) Coca-Cola (KO) will bring in-home soda making to consumers through the Keurig Cold brand.

>>Hedge Funds Are Selling These 5 Stocks -- Should You?

That's helped squeeze shares more than 48% higher since the calendar flipped to January. Already, Keurig's K-Cups offer a sticky revenue stream for GMCR. Because they're proprietary, the firm can command premium pricing for them. And because the firm can offer new, diverse drink choices (such as hot cocoa or iced coffee), it's able to drive sales among its large installed base.

One of the most staggering stats about GMCR right now is the fact that the firm isn't particularly expensive despite its huge momentum. Shares trade for 33 times earnings, a reasonable multiple for a big growth name. Likewise, the firm sports a solid balance sheet with more than $100 million in net cash; this past year marks the first time GMCR has sported more cash than debt. With rising analyst expectations in GMCR, we're betting on shares.

Paychex

There was one company that applauded Janet Yellen's hints at rising interest rates last week: Paychex (PAYX). Paychex is an outsourced HR firm that provides 570,000 small and medium-sized businesses with payroll and more specialized HR services. Because of the bevy of tax and compliance issues involved in a small business paying its people, the firm is able to earn profits for its expertise. So why does that make PAYX a winner in a rising rate environment?

>>5 Big Trade Signals After Yellen's Surprise Message

Historically, Paychex has earned substantial income from float interest -- the interest money it earns on massive payroll accounts in between the time that employers deposit funds and employees cash their checks. But with rates held near zero for the past five years, PAYX has had to build revenues through other ancillary HR services such as 401k management and worker's comp insurance. Rates on the rise means that Paychex will be able to effortlessly boost its profits.

From a financial standpoint, Paychex is in excellent shape. The firm carries more than $838 million in cash and investments on its balance sheet, with no debt. That provides a lot of dry powder for its 3.27% dividend yield, and it covers around 5% of the firm's outstanding shares at current price levels.

Stanley Black & Decker

Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) hasn't been much of a performer in the last year -- shares are basically flat over a period when the S&P 500 was rallying double digits. But that sluggish stock performance could be due for a turnaround thanks to big industry tailwinds and newfound Rocket Stock status.

>>4 Stocks Breaking Out on Big Volume

SWK manufactures construction and industrial tools, as well as security products and services. The 2010 combination of Stanley and Black & Decker brought together some of the most popular tool and equipment brands in the world, including DeWalt, Porter Cable, and Bostitch, and 18 other marques in addition to the firm's namesakes. Newer additions to SWK's lineup, such as industrial fasteners, offer important diversification away from the cyclical constriction and do-it-yourself business, where the firm has traditionally made its money.

Tailwinds in the North American construction segment are providing exciting growth opportunities for SWK once again, but it's emerging markets where the firm really has the most potential. Because 85% of sales come from developed countries, emerging markets are under-tapped, especially in industrial and infrastructure products that aren't as subject to consumer dollars as pricey power tools.

Earnings on April 21 could be the next big catalyst in SWK. Stay tuned.

To see all of this week's Rocket Stocks in action, check out the Rocket Stocks portfolio at Stockpickr.

-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

RELATED LINKS:

>>3 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves

>>5 Big Health Care Stocks to Trade for Gains

>>3 Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in the names mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji

Are U.S. companies falling out of love with China?

American firms say air pollution in China is making it difficult to recruit employees from abroad.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney) American companies operating in China expect slower revenue growth, investment and expansion this year, according to a survey conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

The tempered expectations underscore just how challenging U.S. firms can find conditions in the world's second biggest economy. The survey found heightened concerns over intellectual property, the safety of proprietary data and government-sponsored campaigns against foreign firms operating in the country.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they felt less welcome in China than before, and only 11% said they felt more at home. The remaining 41% said they detected no change.

Foreign firms, including pharmaceutical companies, food suppliers and even Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), have been targeted over the past year by state media and regulators.

The annual survey was conducted in November and December last year and drew responses from 365 of the chamber's members.

There were few bright spots.

Rising costs were eating into China's competitive advantage, 82% of respondents said. Almost as many said policies that favor state-owned enterprises were having a negative effect on their businesses.

  Baidu, Alibaba challenge Chinese banks

More than 55% of respondents said that China's strict Internet censorship was hurting their operations, up from 39% in 2010. Businesses also reported that Beijing was favoring domestic firms in the licensing process.

As usual, American companies cited intellectual property protections as one of their biggest concerns, with a majority rating China's safeguards as "ineffective or totally ineffective."

"Member companies also show misgivings about the protection of their intellectual property, which can be extracted through technology transfer requirements or simply stolen," the report said.

Pollution is also complicating matters for U.S. firms. Almost 50% of companies said they are having trouble attracting top talent due to smog, up from 19% in 2008.

Still, businesses remain upbeat about their short term plans in China. Three out of four companies said they were optimistic about the next two years, but fewer firms rated their enthusiasm in the highest category, wh! ile more (42%) said they were only "slightly optimistic."

"This year's survey reflects the current realities of operating in China and the associated uncertainty, but also the optimism and confidence ... that the country's leadership is set on reform and that foreign business has an important role in China's future," the group's Gregory Gilligan said in a statement.

Stocks Make Back Losses, S&P 500 Finishes Little Changed

Stocks went nowhere today after making back early losses, as Chevron (CVX) and Wal-Mart (WMT) gained, while Visa (V) and Boeing (BA) fell.

REUTERS

The S&P 500 gained 0.03% to 1,868.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.07% to 16,340.08. Chevron’s 1% gain, which came after being added to the Focus List at Credit Suisse, and Wal-Mart’s 0.8% rise helped balance out Visa’s 0.5% fall and  Boeing’s 1% drop, which came after UBS cut its price target. Tesoro (TSO) jumped 4.1% to $54.50 after oil prices fell, making the refiner the S&P 500′s biggest winner.

Once again, concerns about China are reputed to have driven early weakness in the stock market. Rhino Trading Partners’ Michael Block expresses his concern about the falling Chinese yuan:

…cheaper Chinese exports could wreak havoc on non Chinese exporters around the world.  The most obvious losers would be South Korean, Japanese, U.S. and European stocks that are heavy exporters to countries other than China…In the U.S., I am concerned about export heavy sectors like autos and steel the most.  Given the weaker yuan and lower Chinese purchasing power, consumer companies selling into China, whether they be luxury goods makers or QSRs, are also ones to avoid here.

The big picture is that this could end up being an issue that affects everyone going into this November.  If a weaker CNY causes U.S. exports to fall and jobs and GDP suffer, you better believe that protectionism becomes a byword going into mid term elections and then beyond that into the 2016 campaign.   The risk of this escalating into a full scale currency war is the biggest risk that China's new path may entail.   And yet I see good reasons for why it will happen.  China may have no choice but to give it a try.  Any questions or comments, please contact me.

Hey, maybe I wasn’t wrong when I wrote about China’s problems hitting the U.S. Maybe I was just early.

Tax Q&A: What to do if I you forgot a tax payment

With the April 15 tax deadline fast approaching, you probably have questions. Fortunately, we have answers. Every day until April 15, members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants have agreed to answer selected tax questions from USA TODAY readers. Submit your questions to jwaggoner@usatoday.com.

Q. I forgot the January 15th estimated tax payment. It appears that we will owe about $5,000 in tax. What should I do?

A: At this point, you have two options. It is not too late to make your fourth estimated tax payment by filing Form 1040-ES and submitting payment now. Because the penalty for any underpayment of taxes accrues daily, it is better to make a late payment than no payment at all.

However, if you are prepared to file your Form 1040 and pay your entire tax liability now prior to the April 15 deadline, it is not necessary to make the fourth quarter estimated payment.

NEED HELP: Get all the latest tax news and advice

I emphasize that this requires paying the entire amount of tax owed now, roughly a month early, rather than just the fourth quarter payment.

For further information, consult the IRS guidance on estimated tax payments.

Top 10 Medical Stocks To Buy For 2014

IRS: Estimated taxes

Ellen D. Cook, MS, CPA, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette answered this question, via the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Previous questions:

Is a gift from an IRA taxable?

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy Right Now

Top 10 Value Companies To Buy Right Now: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonathan Berr]

  Multilevel marketing (MLM) groups such as Herbalife operate through independent sales representatives, who earn money both through the sales of product and by recruiting other people to join their t! eam. This business model — which is used by scores of companies, including Pampered Chef, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tupperware (TUP) and Mary Kay Cosmetics — is legal provided that actual products are sold.

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Corporate earnings took a back seat today to the Fed's latest policy decision. Still, quarterly financial results, and other news sent shares of McCormick & Co. (MKC) and Tupperware (TUP), falling during regular market hours Here's a rundown of several of today's moves:

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-10-value-companies-to-buy-right-now.html

MagneGas Has Run Its Course (MNGA)

You're welcome. Back on March 12th when yours truly penned some bullish thoughts on MagneGas Corporation (NASDAQ:MNGA), nobody cared, largely because nobody had heard of the company, and there was no particular reason anybody had to find MNGA. Now less than a full week later, this once-obscure name is all the rage; no less than 21 different market-centric websites have made mention of the stock's explosive growth over the past few days. MagneGas has been proverbially put on the map, with shares surging 90% (as of right now) since the first exploration last Wednesday. So, like I said, you're welcome.... if you got in on the 12th, or even more realistically, got in on the 14th when MNGA finally crossed above the ceiling at $0.94 I was talking about a little less than a week ago.

I don't come here to gloat though.... well, not gloat too much. I'm mostly looking at MagneGas Corporation again today to suggest you lock in your gains and get out.

Say what? This thing is just starting to take flight! Why bail out now when things are just getting good? Because things have gotten as good as they're going to get for MNGA, at least for a while.

That's not going to be a popular stance. I'm ok with that. All I ask is that you hear me out.

The first big red flag suggesting that MagneGas Corporation shares has done all it can do for the time being is yesterday's enormously high volume. Yes, you want strong volume behind new trends. You don't want to waste all your volume capacity in one shot though, and with 18 million shares of MNGA trading hands on Monday versus the average of less than 700,000 per day prior to the breakout, it's reasonably safe to say that anybody who was willing to get into the stock at a price of more than $0.94 is already in. There can't be many buyers left.

Yes, the stock's up a little bit more today on pretty good volume, and may even top yesterday's volume levels. Take a closer look at today's action for red flag #2 though... MNGA left behind a bullish gap at the open, and has spent the bulk of the session selling off, as would-be profit-takers bail out, thinking we've already seen the highest prices we're going to see in a while. Take that hint.

Top 5 Trucking Stocks To Invest In Right Now

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Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now

The cries for a better startup climate came from Dan Wagner, founder and CEO of POWA Technologies, a London-based online business platform that just raised a $76 million series A round of funding, announced earlier this month.

Wagner talked up the UK�� entrepreneurial potential, cautioning that businesses won�� stay at home if prospects are better elsewhere and that the country is already experiencing a ��rain-drain.����e have some fantastic, inspirational entrepreneurs who start great businesses, but unfortunately many of them have to go abroad to get the funding they need to grow and succeed and that is a shame,��he said. ��ritain has great innovation across all areas and it needs to be nurtured and supported because it will be the lifeblood for the return of economic strength.��/p>

Nurturing the startup community would lead to an increase in jobs and exports, he argued. �� would like to see capital gains tax completely removed from the funding of start-up businesses.��/p>

Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now: Eagle Materials Inc (EXP)

Eagle Materials Inc., incorporated on January 27, 1994, manufactures and distributes gypsum wallboard and also manufactures and sells cement. Gypsum wallboard is distributed throughout the United States with particular emphasis in the geographic markets nearest to its production facilities. The Company sells cement in six regional markets, including northern Nevada and California, the greater Chicago area, the Rocky Mountain region, the Central Plains region and Texas. Its gypsum wallboard business is supported by its recycled paperboard business, while its cement business is supported by its concrete and aggregates business. The Company operates in Cement and Concrete and Aggregates, and Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard segments. As of March 31, 2013, the Company operated six cement plants (one of which belongs to its joint venture company), five gypsum wallboard plants, one recycled paperboard plant, seventeen concrete batching plants and four aggregates facilities. The Company�� products are used in the construction and renovation of houses, roads, bridges, commercial and industrial buildings and other, newer generation structures like wind farms.

Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Operations

The Company�� cement production facilities are located in or near Buda, Texas; LaSalle, Illinois; Laramie, Wyoming; Sugar Creek, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Fernley, Nevada. The Company�� cement subsidiaries are wholly-owned except the Buda, Texas plant, which is owned by Texas Lehigh Cement Company LP, a limited partnership joint venture owned 50% by the Company and 50% by Lehigh Cement Company LLC, a subsidiary of Heidelberg Cement AG. Its LaSalle, Illinois plant operates under the name of Illinois Cement Company; the Laramie, Wyoming plant operates under the name of Mountain Cement Company; the Fernley, Nevada plant operates under the name of Nevada Cement Company and its Sugar Creek, Missouri and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants operate under the name Central Plains Cement Com! pany. The Company produces and distributes ready-mix concrete from Company-owned sites north of Sacramento, California; Austin, Texas and the greater Kansas City area. The Company�� activities in its frac sand business are in the Utica, Illinois area and in south Texas. The Company sells aggregates to building contractors and other customers engaged in a variety of construction activities.

Gypsum Wallboard and Recycled Paperboard Operations

The Company owns five gypsum wallboard manufacturing facilities. As of March 31, 2013, the Company�� gypsum wallboard production totaled 1,950 million square feet. Total gypsum wallboard sales were 1,909 million square feet during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013). The Company also manufactures alternative products, including containerboard grades (such as linerboard and medium) and lightweight packaging grades (such as bag liner). In addition, recycled industrial paperboard grades (tube/core stock and protective angle board stock) are produced to maximize manufacturing efficiencies. The Company�� manufactured recycled paperboard products are sold to gypsum wallboard manufacturers and other industrial users.

The Company competes with USG Corporation, National Gypsum Company and Koch Industries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Cement and building materials maker�Eagle Materials� (NYSE: EXP  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.10 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2008.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Tomorrow, Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now: Ply Gem Holdings Inc (PGEM)

Ply Gem Holdings, Inc. (Ply Gem Holdings), incorporated on January 23, 2004, is a manufacturer of residential exterior building products in North America. The Company operates in two segments: Siding, Fencing, and Stone and Windows and Doors. These two segments produce a product line of vinyl siding, designer accents, cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC) trim, vinyl fencing, vinyl and composite railing, stone veneer and vinyl windows and doors used in both new construction and home repair and remodeling in the United States and Western Canada. It also manufactures vinyl and aluminum soffit and siding accessories, aluminum trim coil, wood windows, aluminum windows, vinyl and aluminum-clad windows and steel and fiberglass doors, enabling it to bundle complementary and color-matched products and accessories with its core products. The Company�� subsidiaries includes including Ply Gem Industries, MWM Holding, AWC Holding Company, MHE, and Pacific Windows. On July 30, 2012, Ply Gem acquired substantially all of the assets of Greendeck Products, LLC.

Siding, Fencing, and Stone Segment

In the Siding, Fencing, and Stone segment, its principal products include vinyl siding and skirting, vinyl and aluminum soffit, aluminum trim coil, J-channels, wide crown molding, window and door trim, F-channels, H-molds, fascia, undersill trims, outside/inside corner posts, rain removal systems, injection molded designer accents, such as shakes, shingles, scallops, shutters, vents and mounts, vinyl fence, vinyl and composite railing, and stone veneer. It sells its siding and accessories under its Variform, Napco, Mastic Home Exteriors, and Cellwood brand names and under the Georgia-Pacific brand name through a private label program. It also sells its Providence line of vinyl siding and accessories to Lowe�� under its Durabuilt private label brand name. Its vinyl and vinyl-composite fencing and railing products are sold under its Kroy and Kroy Express brand names. Ply Gem Holdings stone veneer produ! cts are sold under its United Stone Veneer brand name.

The Company sells the siding and accessories to specialty distributors (one-step distribution) and to wholesale distributors (two-step distribution). Its specialty distributors sell directly to remodeling contractors and builders. Its wholesale distributors sell to retail home centers and lumberyards who, in turn, sell to remodeling contractors, builders and consumers. In the specialty channel, it has developed a network of approximately 800 independent distributors, serving over 22,000 contractors and builders nationwide.

Windows and Doors Segment

In the Windows and Doors segment, its principal products include vinyl, aluminum, wood and clad-wood windows and patio doors, and steel, wood, and fiberglass entry doors that serve both the new home construction and the repair and remodeling sectors in the United States and Western Canada. Its products in its Windows and Doors segment are sold under the Ply Gem Windows, Great Lakes Mastic by Ply Gem, and Ply Gem Canada brands.

The Company competes with Alsco, Gentek, U.S. Fence, Homeland, Westech, Bufftech, Royal, Azek., Eldorado Stone, Coronado Stone, Jeld-Wen, Simonton, Pella and Andersen, MI Home Products, Atrium, Weathershield, Milgard, Jeld-Wen, Gienow, All Weather and Loewen.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Ply Gem Holdings (NYSE: PGEM) shares reached a new 52-week low of $11.48 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q4 loss and issued a weak Q1 revenue forecast.

Best India Stocks To Own For 2014: CEMEX SAB de CV (CX)

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (CEMEX), incorporated on January 20, 1931, is a global cement manufacturer with operations in North America, Europe, South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The Company is a holding company engaged through the operating subsidiaries in the production, distribution, marketing and sale of cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and clinker. As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� cement production facilities were located in Mexico, the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Latvia, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Egypt, the Philippines and Thailand.

The Company manufactures cement through a closely controlled chemical process, which begins with the mining and crushing of limestone and clay, and, in some instances, other raw materials. The clay and limestone are then pre-homogenized, a process which consists of combining different types of clay and limestone. The mix is typically dried, then fed into a grinder, which grinds the various materials in preparation for the kiln. The raw materials are calcined, or processed, at a very high temperature in a kiln, to produce clinker. Clinker is the intermediate product used in the manufacture of cement.

Ready-mix concrete is a combination of cement, fine and coarse aggregates, admixtures (which control properties of the concrete including plasticity, pumpability, freeze-thaw resistance, strength and setting time), and water. The Company is a supplier of aggregates primarily the crushed stone, sand and gravel, used in virtually all forms of construction.

Mexican Operations

During the year ended December 31, 2009, the Mexican operations represented approximately 21% of the Company�� net sales. CEMEX Mexico is a direct subsidiary of CEMEX and is both a holding company for some of the operating companies in Mexico and an operating company involved in the manufacturing and ma! rketing of cement, plaster, gypsum, groundstone and other construction materials and cement by-products in Mexico. CEMEX Mexico, indirectly, is also the holding company for the international operations. The Company owns Tolteca, Monterrey, Maya, Anahuac, Campana, Gallo, and Centenario brands in Mexico. As of December 31, 2009, the Company owned 100% of CEMEX Mexico.

The Company competes with Holcim Ltd., Sociedad Cooperativa Cruz Azul, Cementos Moctezuma, Grupo Cementos Chihuahua and Lafarge Cementos in Mexico.

U.S. Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� operations in the United States represented approximately 19% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX, Inc. As of December 31, 2009, CEMEX had a cement manufacturing capacity of approximately 17.9 million tons per year in the United States operations. As of December 31, 2009, the Company operated 14 cement plants located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. As of December 31, 2009, it also had 48 rails or water served active cement distribution terminals in the United States. As of December 31, 2009, the Company had 336 ready-mix concrete plants located in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington and aggregates facilities in North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

Spanish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the operations in Spain represented approximately 5% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held approximately 99.8% of CEMEX Espana, the main operating subsidiary in Spain. The cement activities in Spain are conducted by CEMEX Espana. The ready-mix concrete activities in Spain are conducted by Hormicemex, S.A., a subsidiary of CEMEX Espana, and the aggregates activities in Spain ar! e conduct! ed by Aricemex S.A., also a subsidiary of CEMEX Espana.

U.K. Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company�� operations in the United Kingdom represented approximately 8% of the Company�� net sales. As of December 31, 2009, it held 100% of CEMEX Investments Limited, the holding subsidiary in the United Kingdom. The Company is a provider of building materials in the United Kingdom with vertically integrated cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and asphalt operations. It is also a provider of concrete and precast materials solutions, such as concrete blocks, concrete block paving, roof tiles, flooring systems and sleepers for rail infrastructure.

The Company competes with Lafarge, Heidelberg, Tarmac, and Aggregate Industries in the United Kingdom.

German Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the operations in the Rest of Europe consisted of the operations in Germany, France, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Austria and Hungary, as well as the other European assets. The Company is a provider of building materials in Germany, with vertically integrated cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates and concrete products operations (consisting mainly of prefabricated concrete ceilings and walls). It maintains a network for ready-mix concrete and aggregates in Germany. As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Deutschland AG, the holding subsidiary in Germany.

The Company competes with Heidelberg, Dyckerhoff, Lafarge, Holcim and Schwenk in Germany.

French Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX France Gestion (S.A.S.), the holding subsidiary in France. It is a ready-mix concrete producer and aggregate producer in France. As of December 31, 2009, the Company operated 239 ready-mix concrete plants in France, one maritime cement terminal located in LeHavre, on the northern coast of France, 20 land distribution centers and 42 aggregates quarries.

The Company competes with Lafarge, Holcim, Italcementi, Vicat, Lafarge, Italcementi, Colas (Bouygues) and Eurovia (Vinci) in France.

Irish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held approximately 61.2% of Readymix Plc, the operating subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland. The operations in Ireland produce and supply sand, stone and gravel, as well as ready-mix concrete, mortar and concrete blocks. As of December 31, 2009, we operated 43 ready-mix concrete plants, 27 aggregates quarries and 15 block plants located in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. The Company imports and distributes cement in the Isle of Man.

The Company competes with CRH, the Lagan Group and Kilsaran in the Republic of Ireland.

Polish Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Polska Sp. z.o.o. (CEMEX Polska), the holding subsidiary in Poland. It is a provider of building materials in Poland serving the cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates markets. As of December 31, 2009, CEMEX operated two cement plants and one grinding mill in Poland, with a total installed cement capacity of three million tons per year. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated 39 ready-mix concrete plants and nine aggregates quarries in Poland. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated 10 land distribution centers and two maritime terminals in Poland.

The Company competes with Heidelberg, Lafarge, CRH and Dyckerhoff in Poland.

Southeast European Operations

As of December 31, 2009, the Company held 100% of CEMEX Hrvatska d.d. (Hrvatska), the operating subsidiary in Croatia. As of December 31, 2009, it operated three cement plants in Croatia, with an installed capacity of 2.4 million tons per year. As of December 31, 2009, the Company also operated ten land distribution centers, three maritime cement terminals, eight ready-mix concrete facilities and one aggregates quarry! in Croat! ia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Vulcan have gained 7.6%, and given a lift to other cement makers today, including Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), which has risen 4.9% and reports earnings on Thursday, Cemex (CX), which has advanced 1.5%, and Texas Industries (TXI), which is up 4.9%.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Even now, though, it's far from clear whether the recent rebound has staying power. Earlier this month, peer Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC  ) reported 5% lower shipments of aggregates, although rising prices helped offset the impact, and the company noted double-digit-percentage increases in shipments to hot housing areas including Arizona, California, and Florida. Similarly, Cemex (NYSE: CX  ) posted a substantial loss for its March quarter on with 5% lower revenue, but the Mexican company pointed to strength in the U.S. and Asian markets as offsetting weakness in Mexico, Europe, and Latin America.

Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now: Boral Ltd (BLD)

Boral Limited (Boral), is engaged in the manufacture and supply of building and construction materials in Australia, the United States and Asia. The Company�� operating segments include Construction Materials & Cement, Building Products, Boral Gypsum, and Boral USA. The Construction Materials & Cement is engaged in quarries, concrete, asphalt, transport, landfill, property, cement and concrete placing. The Building Products segment is engaged in Australian bricks, roof tiles, masonry, timber products and windows. The Boral Gypsum involves Australian and Asian plasterboard. The Boral USA is engaged in Bricks, cultured stone, roof tiles, fly ash, concrete and quarries. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Ballard Power (BLD), which designs and manufactures hydrogen fuel cells, slumped 15 percent to C$1.42, the biggest decline since March. The company yesterday said it will sell about 9 million units at $1.40 a unit for proceeds of about $12.6 million. The cash generated will be used to fund working capital, support growth and general corporate purposes, the company said.

Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now: Holcim Ltd (HOLN)

Holcim Ltd (Holcim) is a Switzerland-based holding company that specializes in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of building materials. The Company operates four business segments, including Cement, Aggregates, Other construction materials and services, and Corporate. The Cement segment is engaged in the development of cement and comprises clinker and other cementitious materials, among others. The Aggregates business segment includes crushed stone, gravel and sand. The Other construction materials and services business segment comprises ready-mix concrete, concrete products, asphalt, construction and paving, and trading, among others. Additionally, other construction materials and services segment provides environmental services, including waste management, among others. The Corporate segment is engaged in holding activities and general management. It operates through subsidiaries in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, North America, Africa and Middle East regions. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Holcim Ltd. (HOLN) lost 0.9 percent to 68.15 francs in Zurich. Bank of America Corp.�� Merrill Lynch unit cut its rating on the world�� largest cement maker to underperform, similar to a sell recommendation, from neutral. Merrill Lynch cited the company�� exposure to emerging markets.

Hot Construction Material Companies To Invest In Right Now: Texas Industries Inc (TXI)

Texas Industries, Inc., incorporated on April 19, 1951, is a supplier of construction materials in the southwestern United States. The Company operates in three segments: cement, aggregates and consumer products. Its cement segment produces gray portland cement and specialty cements. The Company�� cement production and distribution facilities are concentrated primarily in Texas and California. Its aggregates segment produces natural aggregates, including sand, gravel and crushed limestone. The Company�� consumer products segment produces ready-mix concrete. It is also a supplier of natural aggregates and ready-mix concrete in Texas and northern Louisiana and in Oklahoma and Arkansas. As of May 31, 2013, the Company had 123 manufacturing facilities in five states.

Cement Segment

The Company produces specialty cements, such as masonry and oil well cements. Its cement production facilities are located at Midlothian, Texas, south of Dallas/Fort Worth, Hunter, Texas, between Austin and San Antonio, and Oro Grande, California, near Los Angeles. It also operates a cement terminal and packaging facility at its Crestmore plant near Riverside, California, and the Company operates its gray portland cement grinding facility on an as needed basis. During the fiscal year ended May 31, 2013 (fiscal 2013), it produced approximately 4.3 million tons of finished cement. The Company shipped approximately 4.4 million tons during fiscal 2013, of which 3.8 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers.

Aggregates Segment

The Company�� operations are conducted from facilities primarily serving the Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin areas in Texas; the southern Oklahoma area, and the Alexandria and Monroe areas in Louisiana. The Company produced approximately 14.2 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013. It shipped approximately 14.8 million tons of natural aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which 11.3 million tons were shipped to outside trade customers! . The Company shipped approximately 1.0 million cubic yards of lightweight aggregates during fiscal 2013, of which approximately 0.9 million cubic yards were shipped to outside trade customers.

Consumer Products Segment

The Company�� ready-mix concrete operations are situated in three areas in Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area of north Texas, the Austin area of central Texas and from Beaumont to Texarkana in east Texas), in north and central Louisiana, and in southwestern Arkansas. It is also a 40% partner in a joint venture that has ready mix concrete operations in the northern part of central Texas area centered around Waco, Texas. It shipped approximately 2.8 million cubic yards of ready-mix concrete during fiscal 2013. The Company manufacture and supply a substantial amount of the cement and aggregates raw materials used by our ready-mix plants. The Company also marketed its Maximizer packaged concrete mixes in southern California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Competitively advantaged holdings continued to demonstrate the value of moats at FedEx (FDX), Melco, and Texas Industries (TXI). These holdings were among our largest contributors to performance, and they exemplify activity prevalent across most of our holdings throughout the year.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $233.63 million.

  National American University Holdings (NASDAQ: NAUH) is projected to post a Q1 loss at $0.01 per share on revenue of $30.58 million.

• [By Ben Fox Rubin]

  Building materials company Texas Industries Inc.(TXI) is considering a sale, Bloomberg News reported, citing three people familiar with knowledge of the matter. Shares of the company jumped 12% premarket to $65.50.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Vulcan have gained 7.6%, and given a lift to other cement makers today, including Martin Marietta Materials (MLM), which has risen 4.9% and reports earnings on Thursday, Cemex (CX), which has advanced 1.5%, and Texas Industries (TXI), which is up 4.9%.

Top Value Stocks To Own For 2014

Top Value Stocks To Own For 2014: Dollar Tree Inc.(DLTR)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  This isn't some growing new industry set to take the world further into the 21st century. It's an old concept that hasn't innovated, won't innovate, and will slowly but surely die out over this century. When I walk into a Walgreens, I see a miniature Target (TGT), a more expensive Dollar Tree (DLTR), and a provider of prescriptions in a world where everything is becoming mail order.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  The other stock the firm likes is Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR). The company's shares have lost about 4.6% since reporting an earnings per share (EPS) miss for the third quarter and the Sterne Agee analysts see the lower price as a "great entry point" for buying the stock. Dollar Tree raised fiscal year 2013 EPS guidance from a range of $2.66 to $2.77 to a new range of $2.72 to $2.78, effectively raising the mid-point by $0.04. Sterne Agee reiterated its Buy rating on the! stock with a price target of $63. Dollar Tree's shares are trading down nearly 0.4% at $55.99 in a 52-week range of $37.47 to $60.19.

• [By Ben Eisen]

  Perpetually struggling department store J.C. Penney Co. (JCP)  said it expects a sales boost this holiday season as it returns to a promotional strategy. But for the most part, retailers including Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR)  , GameStop Corp. (GME)   and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF)   gave dour outlooks in their earnings reports.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big Earnings Movers: Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is down 3.5% at $64.19. Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down 2.9% at $59.93 on a wider loss and tepid outlook. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up 14.1% at $70.57 indicating that investors liked the results posted after markets closed on Wednesday. Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is down 4.5% at $56.28. Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (NYSE: ANF) is down 0.1% at $34.97.

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-value-stocks-to-own-for-2014.html

Top Oil Stocks To Buy For 2014

Top Oil Stocks To Buy For 2014: Santos Ltd (STOSF)

Santos Limited is an oil and gas producer, supplying Australian and Asian customers. The Company is primarily engaged in the exploration for, and development, production, transportation and marketing of, hydrocarbons. The Company develops major oil and gas liquids businesses in Australia, and operates in all mainland states and the Northern Territory. The Company has exploration-led Asian portfolio, with a focus on three core countries: Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea. The Company operates in four business units of Eastern Australia; Western Australia and Northern Territory; Asia Pacific, and Gladstone LNG (GLNG). The Asia Pacific operating segment includes operations in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks fell early Wednesday, tracking a weak lead from the U.S. but with a few blue-chip miners higher after gains for some commodities overnight. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) retreated 0.4% to 5,237.80 after similar losses for the main Wall Street indexes, with the Australian benchmark trading around its lowest level since October. Among the major decliners, Qantas Airways Ltd. (AU:QAN) (QUBSF) lost 2.5%, Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. (AU:HVN) (HNORY) gave up 1.3%, and Incitec Pivot Ltd. (AU:IPL) (ICPVY) fell 1.8%. Santos Ltd. (AU:STO) (STOSF) fell! 2.6% on indication it will miss its lowered production guidance for 2013, according to the Australian Financial Review. On the upside, top miners BHP Billiton Ltd. (AU:BHP) (BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (AU:RIO) (RIO) rose 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. (AU:FMG) (FSUMF) traded 1% higher. Shares of global shopping-mall developer Westfield Group Australia (AU:WDC) (WEFIF) were on halt

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-oil-stocks-to-buy-for-2014.html

A Successful Mix Earns Industry-Leading Margins for this Parcel Delivery Giant

United Parcel Services (UPS) is the world's largest parcel delivery company. Each business day, the firm transports an average of 16.9 million packages across 220 countries and territories. The company also provides global supply chain solutions and forwarding services in more than 175 countries, as well as truckload and less-than-truckload services throughout the U.S. It operates a ground fleet of 101,000 vehicles domestically and an air fleet of 523 units. Its package operations in the U.S. account for 61% of revenue, while its international deliveries generate another 21%.

One-of-a-Kind Fundamentals

UPS boasts one of the widest economic moats in the transportation arena. Its huge network, efficient scale, and cost advantages have enabled the firm to earn the highest margins in the industry. Compelling returns on capital of 15% average are also present, despite its intensely asset-based model. Its vast infrastructure includes enormous quantities of trucks, trailers, terminals, sorting equipment, IT systems and skilled labor. The business has high barriers to entry since huge investments and large package volumes are required to build, and support, its high fixed-cost structure. Likewise, the scale of its operations generates cost advantages that make pricing competition difficult for low-volume entrants.

Thus, UPS's leading margins are a result of a successful combination that includes greater package volume than its peers, focus on high-margin ground shipping, and also the use of an integrated network for the pickup and delivery of both express and ground shipments.

Through its single system, the firm attains greater efficiency than FedEx Corporation (FDX), which employs parallel networks to manage each unit separately. Moreover, FedEx handled an average of 8.8 million packages daily through its express and ground units at the domestic level, while UPS delivered 14.4 million in calendar 2013. Further, 12.1 million of its daily parcels were moved through its higher-margin ground service, almost doubling those delivered by FedEx in the same segment.

Profit Enhancers

In order to improve its performance levels, UPS has developed a number of initiatives. In 2013, the company announced the expansion of UPS Worldwide Expedited Service to reach more than 220 countries from its present 145 destinations. The firm also introduced route optimization software ORION, which will save fuel and optimize delivery routes. And, by the end of 2014, it aims to buy 700 liquefied natural gas vehicles and construct four refueling stations to further empower its ground operations.

In addition, the company is expanding its fast-growing health care business onto the emerging markets of China, India and Japan, establishing distribution facilities in the Asia-Pacific region. And to strengthen its European healthcare network, the firm acquired UK Polar Speed in 2014, which provides temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical supply chain solutions. Furthermore, UPS increased its rates for ground, air and international and air freight within and between the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico by 4.9% for 2014.

A Sturdy Investment

UPS expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $5.05 to $5.30 in 2014, which represents growth of 11% to 16% in relation to 2013 adjusted earnings per share. As for volume, it forecasts 3% to 4% growth of the daily average, with exports reaching 4% to 6% increase. Additionally, operating margin is expected to be around 14%.

Further, the firm continues to enhance shareholders' returns through permanent stocks repurchases and increased dividends. Its stock trades at 21.3 its trailing earnings compared to the industry average of 23.4 and its return on equity showcases an impressive 78.6% against its competitors' median of 24.1%. Investment guru Lou Simpson (Trades, Portfolio) recently increased his holdings by 8.16%, backing my bullish feeling about UPS's solid growth prospects.

Disclosure: Vanina Egea holds no position in any stocks mentioned.

About the author:Vanina EgeaA fundamental analyst at Lone Tree Analytics

Visit Vanina Egea's Website

Currently 5.00/512345 Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote)

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Best Investments In 2015

With shares of General Mills (NYSE:GIS) trading around $49, is GIS an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

General Mills supplies branded and unbranded food products to the food service and commercial baking industries. The companys products include ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soups, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, ice creams and frozen desserts, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grains, fruit and savory snacks, and various organic products, including granola bars, cereals, and soups. General Mills, Inc. sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, commercial and noncommercial food service distributors and operators, restaurants, and convenience stores, as well as to drug, dollar, and discount chains.

Best Investments In 2015: TomTom NV (TMOAF.PK)

TomTom NV is the Netherlands-based supplier of location and navigation products and services. The Company�� offer includes maps, speed cameras, portable navigation devices (PND), fleet management services (FMS), and smart phone applications. It consists of four customer-facing segments: Consumer, Automotive, Business Solutions and Licensing. The Consumer segment is engaged in the sale of PNDs, speed cameras, maps and other related navigation services to end customers. Automotive sells in-dash navigation solutions, speed cameras, grade maps and services to companies in automotive segment, as well as PNDs for fitness products. The Business solutions segment provides fleet management services and solutions, such as fleet trackers, to fleet owners. Licensing sells digital maps, mobile applications and other content to customers within multiple market segments. The Company operates in over 35 countries worldwide. In July 2013, it acquired Coordina (Gestion Electronica Logistica, S.L.). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Genesis Housing]

  Nokia's HERE division is worth E1bn assuming a similar market cap as TomTom (TMOAF.PK) but offers significant upside as maps become the next platform for e-commerce. Assuming Nokia's net cash position declines to E2bn at Q3 from E4.1bn in Q2 (given the E1.7bn NSN deal as well as incremental cash burn due to supporting product launches), the combined value of Nokia's Net Cash, HERE division and NSN division is in line with the current market cap of Nokia.

Best Investments In 2015: LinkedIn (LNKD)

LinkedIn Corporation operates an online professional network. The company, through its proprietary platform, allows members to create, manage, and share their professional identity online; build and engage with their professional networks; access shared knowledge and insights; and find business opportunities. Its platform also offers members with solutions, including applications and tools to search, connect, and communicate with business contacts, learn about career opportunities, join industry groups, research organizations, and share information. In addition, the company provides LinkedIn mobile applications across various platforms and languages, such as Android, Blackberry, iPad, and iPhone mobile devices; a public Website that allows developers to integrate its content and services into their applications; and a set of embeddable widgets to allow Web developers to include content from the company�s network into their Website or application. Further, it offers hiring solutions comprising LinkedIn Corporate Solutions that enable enterprises and professional organizations to find, contact, and hire qualified candidates; LinkedIn Jobs that allow enterprises and professional organizations to advertise job opportunities on the company�s network; and Subscriptions, which enable recruiters and hiring managers to find, contact, and manage potential candidates. Additionally, the company provides marketing solutions, such as LinkedIn Ads, a self-service platform that enable advertisers to build and target their advertisement to its members; and LinkedIn Ads for Enterprise, which are marketing solutions to target larger advertisers that receive dedicated account management and additional marketing solutions. It also offers premium subscriptions that are subscription packages designed for general professionals to manage their professional identity and connect with talent. LinkedIn Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Mountain Vi ew, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected From: Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM), Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Economic Releases Expected: �US consumer confidence, US PPI, Canadian PPI, British mortgage approvals and consumer credit, French consumer confidence

  Wednesday

• [By Leigh Drogen]

  3. Pay attention to the company's guidance. The best and most prolific example is the sandbag job that Apple (AAPL) used to do every quarter. Companies in high revenue growth mode will almost always sandbag guidance because there's really no reason for them to be honest. They are already growing at a good clip, so telling the market they will be at 30% YOY instead of 45% YOY isn't gonna hurt the stock, that is unless it's LinkedIn (LNKD) last quarter, in which case the market had a stupid reaction (see stock at new highs now). The market can be dumb sometimes, it creates opportunities for the rest of us.

• [By Benjamin Pimentel]

  Other social media stocks were up. Facebook (FB) �rose a fraction to close at $49.01, while LinkedIn (LNKD) �gained 4.3% to close at $231.06 and Yelp Inc. (YELP) � added 5.2% to close at $70.77.

• [By Gregory Wallace]

  Social media firms LinkedIn (LNKD) and Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) will report earnings this week as well. Investors will be hoping to see more evidence of mobile growth from Facebook -- especially since Twitter, which is expected to make its market debut in the next few weeks, has disclosed that it is performing extremely well in mobile.

Best Solar Stocks To Own Right Now: MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (MX)

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation designs and manufactures analog and mixed-signal semiconductor products for high-volume consumer applications. It operates in three segments: Display Solutions, Power Solutions, and Semiconductor Manufacturing Services. The Display Solutions segment offers source and gate drivers, and timing controllers that cover a range of flat panel displays used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light emitting diodes (LEDs), 3D and organic light emitting diode televisions and displays, notebooks, and mobile communications and entertainment devices. The Power Solutions segment develop, manufactures, and markets power management solutions, including metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors, power modules, analog switches, LED drivers, DC-DC converters, voice coil motor drivers, and linear regulators. This segment offers its products for a range of devices, including LCD, LED, 3D televisions, smartphones, mobile phones, desktop PCs, notebooks , tablet PCs, and other consumer electronics, as well as for industrial applications, such as power suppliers, LED lighting, and home appliances. The Semiconductor Manufacturing Services segment manufactures various products comprising display drivers, LED drivers, audio encoding and decoding devices, microcontrollers, touch screen controllers, RF switches, park distance control sensors for automotives, electronic tag memories, and power management semiconductors. This segment offers semiconductor manufacturing services to fabless analog and mixed-signal semiconductor companies. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation provides its products and services to consumer electronics OEMs, subsystem designers, and contract manufacturers through a direct sales force, as well as through a network of authorized agents and distributors in the United States, Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Macau. The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Pacampara]

  Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, consumer gadget chip maker MagnaChip Semiconductor (NYSE: MX  ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

Best Investments In 2015: Clean Harbors Inc. (CLH)

Clean Harbors, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides environmental, energy, and industrial services. Its Technical Services segment offers hazardous material management services, including the packaging, collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste; and CleanPack services comprising the collection, identification, categorization, specialized packaging, transportation, and disposal of laboratory chemicals and household hazardous wastes. The company?s Field Services segment offers various environmental cleanup services on customer sites or other locations on a scheduled or emergency response basis, including tank cleaning, decontamination, remediation, spill cleanup; used oil and oil products recycling; polychlorinated biphenyls management and disposal; and filtration and water treatment services. The company?s Industrial Services segment offers industrial and specialty services, such as high-pressure and chemical cleaning, cata lyst handling, decoking, material processing, and industrial lodging services to refineries, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, and other industrial facilities. The company?s Exploration Services segment provides exploration services, such as geospatial data imaging, line clearing, heli-portable and track drilling, seismic surveying, and land development; and directional boring services, including installing pipeline, fiber optic, cable, gas, and water and sewer lines to the oil and gas exploration and production, and power generation companies, as well as municipalities. Clean Harbors, Inc. has approximately 175 locations, including 50 waste management facilities. The company operates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bulgaria, China, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. It serves Fortune 500 companies and private entities, as well as federal, state, provincial, and governmental agencies. The company was founded in 1980 and is based in N orwell, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jason Moser]

  Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH  )
  I love finding companies that fly under the radar, and Clean Harbors is one. It's a smaller company with a market cap of just over $3 billion. But with its founder Alan McKim steering the ship as CEO, I think there is plenty of room for this company to grow. Oh yeah, did I also mention McKim owns almost 8% of shares outstanding? I love founder/leaders like McKim (and Bezos) who eat their own cooking.

• [By Marc Courtenay]

  ATW, which next reports earnings on May 1st, has a market cap of only $3.32 billion, which is bite-size for a XOM or a GE. Another one-swallow menu item for these behemoth acquirers is a company like Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH), which steps into the earnings confessional on April 29th.

• [By Chris Hill]

  Has Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI  ) turned the corner with investors? Will Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM  ) continue to grow its margins? Will Clean Harbors (NYSE: CLH  ) clean up on Wall Street? In this installment of Motley Fool Money, our analysts discuss three stocks to watch.

Best Investments In 2015: Physicians Formula Holdings Inc.(FACE)

Physicians Formula Holdings, Inc. develops, markets, and sells cosmetic and skin care products for the mass market channel. Its cosmetic products include face powders, bronzers, concealers, blushes, foundations, eye shadows, eyeliners, mascaras, and brow makeup; and skin care products comprise cleansers, moisturizers, and treatments. Physicians Formula Holdings, Inc. sells its products to various retailers in the food retail, drug chain, mass volume, specialty retail, and wholesale channels in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Turkey, Mexico, El Salvador, and Panama. The company, formerly known as PFI Holdings Corp., was founded in 2003 and is based in Azusa, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Physicians Formula Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:FACE) reported that it has received an unsolicited, nonbinding proposal to acquire all its outstanding shares of common stock at a price of $4.90 per share, subject to several conditions, including the completion of due diligence and securing of financing commitments by the third party who submitted the proposal and the negotiation of a mutually acceptable definitive agreement

Best Investments In 2015: Koppers Holdings Inc (KOP)

Koppers Holdings Inc. (Koppers), incorporated on November 12, 2004,is a global provider of carbon compounds and commercial wood treatment products and services. The Company's products are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the aluminum, railroad, specialty chemical, utility, concrete and steel industries. The Company serves its customers through a global manufacturing and distribution networks, with manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Denmark. The Company operates in two business segments: Carbon Materials & Chemicals and railroads & Utility Products.

The Company's operations are, to a substantial extent, vertically integrated. Through the Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business, the Company processes coal tar into a variety of products, including carbon pitch, creosote, naphthalene and phthalic anhydride, which are intermediate materials necessary in the production of aluminum, the pressure treatment of wood, the production of high-strength concrete, and the production of plasticizers and specialty chemicals, respectively. Through the Company's Railroad & Utility Products business, the Company believes that the Company is thesupplier of railroad crossties to the North American railroads.

Carbon Materials & Chemicals

Carbon pitch, naphthalene, and creosote are produced through the distillation of coal tar, a by-product generated through the processing of coal into coke for use in steel and iron manufacturing. Coal tar distillation involves the conversion of coal tar into a variety of intermediate chemical products in processes beginning with distillation. During the distillation process, heat and vacuum are utilized to separate coal tar into three primary components: carbon pitch (approximately 50%), chemical oils (approximately 20%) and creosote (approximately 30%).

The Company's Carbon Materials & Chemicals business! (CM&C) manufactures principal products, including carbon pitch, a critical raw material used in the production of aluminum and steel; naphthalene, used for the production of phthalic anhydride and as a surfactant in the production of concrete; phthalic anhydride, used in the production of plasticizers, polyester resins and alkyd paints, and creosote and carbon black feedstock, used in the treatment of wood or as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. The Company also uses naphthalene as a feedstock in the manufacture of phthalic anhydride. The primary markets for phthalic anhydride are in the production of plasticizers, unsaturated polyester resins and alkyd resins. The Company is a producer of carbon pitch for the aluminum industry.

Creosote is used as a commercial wood treatment chemical to preserve railroad crossties and lumber, utility poles and piling. The majority of the Company's domestically produced creosote is sold to its Railroad & Utility Products business. In Australia, China and Europe, creosote is sold primarily into the carbon black market for use as a feedstock in the production of carbon black. In Europe and China creosote is also sold to wood treaters. The Company's wood treating plants in the United States purchase substantially all of their creosote from the Company's tar distillation plants.

Other products include the sale of refined tars, benzole and specialty chemicals. The Company's CM&C business manufactures its primary products and sells them directly to the Company's global customer base under long-term contracts or through purchase orders negotiated by its regional sales personnel and coordinated through its global marketing group in the United States. The Company's nine coal tar distillation facilities including joint ventures and four carbon materials terminals give the Company the ability to offer customers multiple sourcing and a consistent supply of products.

Railroad & Utility Products

The Company's Railroad ! & Utility! Products business (R&UP) sells treated and untreated wood products, rail joint bars and services primarily to the railroad and public utility markets in the United States and Australia. The Company also produces concrete crossties, a complementary product to its wood treatment business, through a joint venture in the United States.

Railroad products include procuring and treating items such as crossties, switch ties and various types of lumber used for railroad bridges and crossings. Railroad products also include manufacturing and selling rail joint bars, which are steel bars used to join rails together for railroads. Utility products include transmission and distribution poles for electric and telephone utilities and piling used in industrial foundations, beach housing, docks and piers. The R&UP business operates 13 wood treating plants, one rail joint bar manufacturing facility, one co-generation facility and 13 pole distribution yards located throughout the United States and Australia. The Company's network of plants is strategically located near timber supplies to enable the Company to access raw materials and service customers effectively. In addition, the Company's crosstie treating plants are typically adjacent to its railroad customers' track lines, and its pole distribution yards are typically located near its utility customers.

In the United States, hardwood lumber is procured by the Company from hundreds of small sawmills throughout the northeastern, midwestern and southern areas of the country. The crossties are shipped via rail car or trucked directly to one of the Company's crosstie treating plants, all of which are on line with a railroad. The crossties are either air-stacked for a period of six to twelve months or artificially dried by a process called boultonizing. Once dried, the crossties are pressure treated with creosote, a product of the Company's CM&C business.

The Company's R&UP business' customer base is the North American Class I railroa! d market,! which buys approximately 80% of all crossties produced in the United States and Canada. The Company also has relationships with many of the approximately 550 short-line and regional rail lines. This also forms the customer base for the Company's rail joint bar products. The railroad crosstie market is a mature market with approximately 23 million replacement crossties (both wood and non-wood) purchased during 2012. The Company supplies all seven of the North American Class I railroads and have contracts with six of them. The Company treats poles with a variety of preservatives, including pentachlorophenol, copper chrome arsenates and creosotes .In the United States the market for utility pole products is characterized by a number of small producers selling into a price-sensitive industry. The utility pole market is fragmented domestically, with over 200 investor-owned electric and telephone utilities and 2,900 smaller municipal utilities and rural electric associations.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Koppers Holdings (NYSE: KOP  ) were looking rusty today, falling as much as 12% after the company cut its outlook for the current quarter.

Best Investments In 2015: Palatin Technologies Inc. (PTN)

Palatin Technologies, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of peptide therapeutics for the treatment of diseases. Its drug development programs include Bremelanotide, a peptide melanocortin receptor agonist that is in Phase IIb clinical trials for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction; and PL-3994, a peptide mimetic natriuretic peptide receptor A agonist, which is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of cardiovascular and pulmonary indications, as well as melanocortin receptor-based compounds for treatment of obesity. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Cranbury, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  At first glance, Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSEMKT:PTN) doesn't look like anything particularly special, nor anything particularly investment-worthy. The longer you study the chart of PTN, however, the clearer it becomes... this stock is on the verge of breaking out, and should be on most traders' watchlists.

Best Investments In 2015: Vistaprint NV (VPRT)

Vistaprint N.V., incorporated on June 5, 2009, is an online provider of coordinated portfolios of customized marketing products and services to micro businesses worldwide. The Company offers a range of brand identity and promotional products, marketing services and digital solutions. While the Company focuses on micro business marketing products and services, consumers also purchases its products, such as invitations and announcements, greeting cards, photo books and calendars. Customers visiting the Company's Websites can select the type of product they wish to design from its range of available products and services for the business and home and family markets, including paper based, non-paper based, and digital and marketing services. Paper based products include brochures, business cards, data sheets, desk and wall calendars, envelopes, flyers, folded business cards, folded cards, holiday cards, and invitations and announcements. Its non-paper based products include banners, bottle openers, calculators, car door magnets, decals, drink koozies, embroidered apparel, hats, iphone cases, key chains, lawn signs, letter openers and luggage tags. Its digital and marketing services include blogs, custom Facebook pages, design tools and content, e-mail marketing services and logos.

When a product type has been selected, the customer can initiate the design process by using the Company's predefined industry styles and theme categories, by entering one or more keywords in its image search tool, or by uploading the customer's own design. If the customer chooses to do a keyword search, the Company's automated design logic will, in real time, create and display to the customer a variety of product templates containing images related to the customer's keyword. When the customer chooses a particular template for personalization, the Company's user-friendly, browser-based application enables the customer to quickly and easily perform a wide range of design and editing functions on the selected design,! for example, cropping images or entirely replacing images with other images or uploading customer images or logos.

Once customers choose a pre-designed template or upload their own content for a product, they can instantly see what their design looks like on a range of other Vistaprint products and related services, including signage, Websites and e-mail marketing, business identity, direct mail services, apparel and promotional gifts. Customers who need help with their design or ordering process are able to reach the Company's customer service agents through phone, e-mail, and chat. The Company has six customer service facilities: Montego Bay, Jamaica; Berlin, Germany; the Hague, the Netherlands; Tunis, Tunisia; Sydney, Australia; and Mumbai, India. These centers provide phone, email and chat support for customers who speak English, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Turkish, Japanese and Hindi. Using the Company's design software applications, combined with voice over Internet protocol telephone transmission technology and call center management tools, its agents and designers provide customer service. Customers purchasing products check out either through a standard e-commerce self-service shopping basket or by providing their order and payment information through telephone to one of the Company's service agents.

The Company's design creation technologies enable customers, by themselves or together with the assistance of the Company's design support staff, to design and create marketing materials from their homes or offices. The Company's document model architecture and technology employs Internet-compatible data structures to define, process and store product designs as a set of separately searchable, combinable and modifiable component elements. The Company's auto-matching design software generates customized product designs in real-time based on key-word searches. VistaStudio is the Company's product ! design an! d editing software suite, which is downloaded to its customer's computer from its server and runs in the customer's browser. This browser-based software provides real-time client-side editing capabilities. A range of layouts, color schemes and fonts are provided and a selection of photographs and illustrations are available for use by customers in product design. Customers can also upload their own images and logos for incorporation into their product designs. The Company's Internet-based, remote, real-time, co-creativity and project management application and database enables customers and the Company's design agents to design a product across the Internet in real-time, while engaging in voice communication.

Albumprinter Downloadable and Online Editors enable the creation of a range of photo products, such as calendars, canvas prints, and greeting cards through an intuitive user interface. These editors allow the Company's customers the choice of creating their personalized products on their own computer or utilizing their preferred browser and enable functionality, such as auto generated layouts, creation of content, and font selection. Features available to the Company's customers include adding personal images, maps, electronic payment processing, downloadable files and contact forms. Pagemodo offers small businesses to create a professional looking custom Facebook page. Pagemodo allows customers to select from a range of templates to create custom tabs for their Fanpage, including welcome tabs, lead capture tabs and video tabs. Pagemodo also offers a template driven cover image designer, which lets customers create cover images for their Facebook pages through a simple click and edit interface.

The Company's pre-production and production technologies process and aggregate customer orders, prepare orders for high-quality production and manage production, addressing and shipment of these orders. DrawDocs is the Company's automated pre-printing press technology that prepares ! customer ! documents received over the Internet for high-resolution printing. The Company's VistaBridge technology allows the Company to store and process. The Company's aggregation software scans these pending jobs and analyzes a range of production characteristics, including quantity, type and format of raw material, color versus black and white, single or double-sided print, delivery date, shipping location, type of production system being used and type of product. For printed products, the VistaBridge software then automatically aggregates orders with similar production characteristics from multiple customers into a single document image that is transferred to either a digital press or to an automated plating system that produces offset printing plates. Viper is the Company's workflow and production management software for tracking and managing its global production facilities on a networked basis. Viper monitors and manages bar-code driven production batch and order management, pick and pack operations, and addressing and shipping of orders.

The Company uses its marketing technologies to generate and display additional products incorporating the customer's initial designs, facilitating the cross-sale of related products and services. VistaMatch Software generates and displays one or more additional customized product designs based upon a customer's existing design. Design elements and customer information are automatically transferred to the additional design.

Automated Cross-Sell and Up-Sell technology permits the Company to show a customer, while the customer is in the process of purchasing a product, marketing offers for one or more additional or related products. Localization/Language Map is the Company's content management system that permits all of its localized Websites, and the changes to those Websites, to be managed by the same software engine. Text and image components of the Company's Web pages are separated, translated and stored in its managed content database.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  Vistaprint (VPRT) provides online customized marketing products and services. This stock closed up 5.2% to $55.01 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 1.16 million
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 250,767
  
  Volume % Change: 396%

  Shares of VPRT jumped higher on Friday after the company reported a profit topping Wall Street expectations and beat the revenue expectation.

  From a technical perspective, VPRT broke out here above some near-term overhead resistance at $53.16 with heavy upside volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last four months, with shares moving higher from its low of $36.51 to its intraday high on Friday of $55.25. During that uptrend, shares of VPRT have been consistently making higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has now pushed shares of VRPT within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if VRPT manages to take out $55.25 to its three-year high at $56.25.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in VPRT as long as it's trending above $53.16 or above $52 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 250,767 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then VRPT will set up to enter new 52-week- and three-year-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $60 to $65.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Vistaprint N.V. (NASDAQ: VPRT) was started with an Underweight rating and a $48 price target (versus $54.21 close) at Barclays.

  Friday’s analyst upgrades had many more names than the downgrades.

Best Investments In 2015: Ishares Msci Switzerland (EWL)

iShares MSCI Switzerland Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the Swiss market, as measured by the MSCI Switzerland Index (the Index). The Index seeks to measure the performance of the Swiss equity market. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index that aims to capture 85% of the (publicly available) total market capitalization. Component companies are adjusted for available float and must meet objective criteria for inclusion in the Index. The Index is reviewed quarterly.

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities included in the Index that collectively has an investment profile similar to the Index. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Mark Salzinger]

  iShares MSCI Germany (EWG) and iShares MSCI Switzerland (EWL) continue to have relatively attractive valuations.

  EWG recently sported an average price/earnings (P/E) ratio on 2013's projected earnings of 12.6 and a price/book value (P/B) of just 1.4.

• [By Carlton Delfeld]

  The iShares Switzerland (EWL) is a wonderful way to gain exposure to a basket of Switzerland's leading multinationals and has an expense ratio of only 0.59%. In addition, while a rising Swiss franc puts pricing pressure on Swiss exporters, a strong Swiss franc supercharges returns for investors in EWL.

Best Investments In 2015: Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH)

Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 369 properties located in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Its portfolio includes 249 senior living communities with 29,678 living units / beds and two rehabilitation hospitals with 364 licensed beds; 108 properties leased to medical providers or medical related businesses, clinics and biotech laboratory tenants (MOBs), and 10 wellness centers with approximately 812,000 square feet of interior space plus outdoor developed facilities. The first operating segment provides short term and long term residential care communities that offer dining for residents. Properties in this segment include leased and managed independent living communities, assisted living communities, skilled nursing facilities and rehabilitation hospitals. The second operating segment provides properties where medical related activities occur but where residential overnight stays or dining services are not provided. Properties in this segment include those leased to medical providers or medical related businesses, MOBs. On December 31, 2013, the Company sold two rehabilitation hospitals to a joint venture consisted of affiliates of The Sanders Trust, LLC and Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, LLC.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company made the following acquisitions: six properties containing 737,000 square feet, and one MOB with 84,474 square feet located in Mendota Heights, Minnesota (January); one MOB with 49,809 square feet located in Shoreview, Minnesota, and one senior living community located in Rockford, Illinois with 73 assisted living units (May); three MOBs with 125,990 square feet located in Alachua, Florida, and 14 communities (June); three communities (July); one community and 47 acres of land (August); 13 MOBs located in eight states (September); two MOBs with 45,645 square feet located in Richmond, Virginia (November), and eight communities, one senior living community! located in Walnut Creek, California with 57 assisted living units, and one MOB with 94,238 square feet located in Greenwood, Indiana (December). In May and June 2011, the Company sold seven properties, including four skilled nursing facilities, one assisted living community and two MOBs. In February 2012, it acquired one senior living community located in Priceville, Alabama with 92 assisted living units.

Independent living communities, or congregate care communities, provides privacy to residents. Assisted living communities have one bedroom units, which include private bathrooms and kitchens. Services bundled within one charge usually include three meals per day in a central dining room, housekeeping, laundry, medical reminders and around-the-clock availability of assistance with the activities of daily living, such as dressing and bathing. Professional nursing and healthcare services are usually available at the property on call or at regularly scheduled times. Nursing homes generally provides nursing and healthcare services. A typical purpose built nursing home includes mostly rooms with one or two beds, a separate bathroom and shared dining facilities. Licensed nursing professionals staff nursing homes around-the-clock per day.

Rehabilitation hospitals, also known as inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), provide intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology services. Patients in IRFs generally receive a minimum of three hours of rehabilitation services daily. IRFs often also provide outpatient services to patients who do not remain overnight. Its two rehabilitation hospitals have beds available for inpatient services and provide outpatient services from the hospitals' premises, such as rehabilitation services for amputees, brain injury, cardio-pulmonary conditions, orthopedic conditions, spinal cord injury, stroke and neurorehabilitation. The MOBs are office or commercial buildings constructed for use or operated as medical office s! pace for ! physicians and other health personnel, and other businesses in medical related fields, including clinics and laboratory uses. Wellness centers typically have gymnasiums, strength and cardiovascular equipment areas, tennis and racquet sports facilities, pools, spas and children's centers. Professional sport training and therapist services are often available.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Because of the requirement to pay out the vast majority of their income, REITs often have extremely high dividend payouts. Mortgage REITs ARMOUR Residential (NYSE: ARR  ) and Chimera Investment (NYSE: CIM  ) use leveraged strategies to produce yields well in excess of 10%, while Omega Healthcare (NYSE: OHI  ) and Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH  ) , which specialize in long-term care facilities and other properties catering to older residents, both have yields between 5% and 6%.

Best Investments In 2015: Pozen Inc.(POZN)

POZEN Inc., a pharmaceutical company, develops products for the treatment of acute and chronic pain, and other pain-related conditions in the United States. Its products include Treximet for acute treatment of migraine attacks with or without aura in adults; and VIMOVO for the relief of the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis, as well as to decrease the risk of developing gastric ulcers in patients at risk of developing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID)-associated gastric ulcers. The company also develops PA32540, a product candidate, which is under 2 pivotal Phase 3 trials for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease in patients at risk for gastric ulcers. It has collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline for the development and commercialization of proprietary combinations of a triptan and a long-acting NSAID; and with AstraZeneca AB for the development and commercialization of proprietary fixed dose combi nations of the proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole magnesium with the NSAID naproxen. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  POZEN (NASDAQ: POZN) shares fell 18.96% to $7.82 in the pre-market trading. POZEN's trailing-twelve-month ROE is -25.44%.

  The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) dipped 1.63% to $74.99 in the pre-market session. Disney's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is 13.62%.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  At first glance, POZEN Inc. (NASDAQ:POZN) doesn't look like anything more than a volatile mover and shaker, currently overbought, and due for a dip. And truth be told, POZN is overbought and due for a pullback (and will be even more so, given this morning's bullish pre-market activity). When you take a step back and look at the much-bigger-picture though, you'll find that POZEN Inc. is only at the beginning of what could be a sizeable move for investors willing to give it some time.

Best Investments In 2015: First Advantage Bancorp(FABK)

First Advantage Bancorp operates as the holding company for First Federal Savings Bank that provides various financial services to individuals and businesses in Tennessee. The company offers various deposit products comprising non-interest-bearing demand deposits, such as checking accounts; interest-bearing demand accounts, including NOW and money market accounts; regular savings accounts; and certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio include real estate mortgage loans, including one-to-four family residential loans and nonresidential real estate loans; construction loans for one-to-four family homes, commercial, multi-family, and other nonresidential purposes; land loans for developing vacant land; consumer loans consisting primarily of home equity loans; and commercial business loans secured by equipment, inventory, or accounts receivable to small businesses. As of June 10, 2010, the company operated five full-service offices in Montgomery County. First Advantage Banco rp was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Melvin]

  PL Capital has not filed any 13Ds in a couple of months, but earlier this year it disclosed a 5.99% position in shares of First Advantage Bancorp (FABK). The Clarksville, Tenn.-based bank has seven branches and trades at about 75% of book value. PL Capital also filed a 13D announcing 8% ownership of Mutual First Financial (MFSF) over the summer. The bank has 31 branches and is based in Muncie, Ind. — an area that has seen substantial consolidation in the past few years.