We recently had a chance to interview one of the portfolio managers for the Ranger Equity Bear ETF (NYSEMKT: HDGE), which is an actively managed short selling exchange-traded fund. It acts like a short selling hedge fund but with instant market liquidity features that an ETF structure provides. The ETF’s major short selling position in shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) was what really piqued our interest. Investors did well who decided to move out of IBM as Big Blue’s stock price has managed to fall by more than $11 per share since then. It turns out that the team here remains a short seller of IBM, and this is indirectly a bet against Warren Buffett.
The reason we are revisiting this is not just to offer a cheerleading session for a short seller, but because IBM is extremely important to the market. IBM is not just a DJIA component. It is the largest DJIA component by far because of its share price being so high and the DJIA being a price-weighted stock index rather than a market cap-weighted index. Another reason that IBM is of such interest to us on a slow August day is that it is one of the cheapest Warren Buffett stocks for value investors if you use the implied upside expected by Wall Street analysts. IBM has now hit a new 52-week low, but the consensus analyst price target implies something to the tune of 17%.
Top 5 Canadian Companies To Own For 2015: Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co Ltd (CCSC)
Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co., Ltd. (CSC Cayman), incorporated on August 14, 2007, is a quick service restaurant chain in China. The Company offers delicious, everyday Chinese food. The Company conducts all of its restaurant operations through CSC China and its subsidiaries. As of June 30, 2012, it had 256 restaurants, including 124 restaurants in Chongqing municipality and 85 restaurants in Sichuan province.
Chongqing municipality and Sichuan province cover a region of 110 million people in Southwest China. CSC Cayman directly operates all of its restaurants. Its standard menu features its main dishes prepared in the Sichuan style, as well as a selection of other dishes, appetizers, desserts and beverages. The Company periodically offers new dishes and seasonal menu selections.
The Company competes with McDonald��, KFC and Yoshinoya.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
Country Style Cooking Restaurant Chain Co., Ltd (NYSE:CCSC), a fast-growing quick service restaurant chain in China, plans to release its unaudited second quarter 2012 financial results on Tuesday, August 14, 2012, after the market closes.
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: RSA Insurance Group PLC (RSA)
RSA Insurance Group plc is the holding company of the RSA group of companies whose principal activity is the transaction of personal and commercial general insurance business. The Company operates in four segments: Scandinavia, Canada, United Kingdom and Western Europe, and Emerging Markets. The Company provides insurance covers for a range of renewable energy technologies, including Wind Energy, which includes onshore and offshore facilities; Solar Energy, which includes photovoltaic, concentrated and thermal installations; Small Hydro, which includes power stations producing an output up to 50 megawatt, and Bio energy, which includes Biomass, Biogas and Waste to Energy plants. The Company works with both large and small brokers. The Company works with partners, such as building societies, banks, retailers, motor manufacturers, charities, utilities and unions to offer their customers appropriate insurance products. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sofia Horta e Costa]
RSA Insurance Group Plc (RSA), which insures cars, homes and ships in the U.K., Scandinavia and emerging markets, rose 0.8 percent to 114.1 pence. Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock to overweight, the equivalent of a buy recommendation, from underweight.
- [By Sarah Jones]
RSA Insurance Group Plc (RSA) gained 0.8 percent to 114.1 pence after Morgan Stanley upgraded the insurer to overweight from underweight, saying the share price will benefit from a stronger prospective U.K. performance. The stock has declined 9.2 percent so far this year, while the FTSE 350 Insurance Index has rallied 10 percent.
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bonanza Creek Energy Inc (BCEI)
Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc., incorporated in December 2010, is an oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of onshore oil and associated liquids-rich natural gas in the United States. The Company�� assets and operations were focused primarily in southern Arkansas (Mid-Continent region) and the Denver Julesburg (DJ) and North Park Basins in Colorado (Rocky Mountain region) during the year ended December 31, 2010. In addition, it owns and operates oil producing assets in the San Joaquin Basin (California region). It operated approximately 99.4% and held an average working interest of approximately 85.8% of its proved reserves as of December 31, 2010. As of December 31, 2010, its net proved reserves was 32,860 million barrels of oil equivalent (MBoe).
The Company�� proved reserves and its drilling locations in its Mid-Continent acreage are located in the Dorcheat Macedonia field and the McKamie Patton field. In the Dorcheat Macedonia field the Company averages a 83.3% working interest and 68.5% net revenue interest, and all of the Company�� acreage is held by production. It had approximately 78 gross (65.0 net) producing wells and its average net daily production during April 2011, was approximately 1,249 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d) from a proved reserves base of 15,247 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which about 64.5% was oil and natural gas liquids. As of April 30, 2011, the Company had drilled 13 gross (10.2 net) wells. Immediately northwest of the Dorcheat Macedonia field, it owns and operates the McKamie gas processing facility, which processes all of the gas from the field. It owns additional interests in the Mid-Continent region near the Dorcheat Macedonia field. These include interests in the McKamie-Patton, Atlanta and Beach Creek fields. Its estimated proved reserves in these fields as of December 31, 2010, were approximately 1,947.8 million barrels of oil equivalent, and average net daily production du! ring April 2011, was approximately 239 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The McKamie processing facility is located in Lafayette County, Arkansas and is located to serve its production in the region. The Company�� facility has a processing capacity of 15 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas and 30,000 gallons per day of natural gas liquids. The facility processes natural gas and natural gas liquids, fractionates liquids into three components for sale, and sells four products at the facility's tailgate: propane, butane, natural gasolines and natural gas. It also owns approximately 150 miles of natural gas gathering pipeline that serves the facility and surrounding field areas and 32 miles of right-of-way crossing Lafayette County that can be utilized to connect the facility to other gas fields or future sales outlets. Natural gas is sold at the tailgate of the facility into a CenterPoint pipeline connection. Fractionated natural gas liquids are held on site and trucked out by the buyer, Dufour Petroleum. The McKamie processing facility had an average net output of 749 barrels of oil equivalent per day based on the facility contracts in April, 2011.
The two main areas in which the Company operates in the Rocky Mountain region include the DJ Basin in Weld County, Colorado and the North Park Basin in Jackson County, Colorado. The DJ Basin is a structural basin centered in eastern Colorado that extends into southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska, and western Kansas. Its operations in the DJ Basin are in the oil window of the Niobrara and as of December 31, 2010, consisted of approximately 42,698 gross (29,742 net) total acres. The Company�� estimated proved reserves in the DJ Basin were 8,402 million barrels of oil equivalent at December 31, 2010. As of April 30, 2011, it had a total of 141 gross (133.6 net) producing wells and its net average daily production during April 2011, was approximately 1,124 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Company�� working inter! est for a! ll producing wells averages is 94.8% and its net revenue interest was approximately 76.5% in 2010. The Codell sandstone and Niobrara oil shale are blanket deposits in the DJ Basin.
The Company controls 47,003 gross (39,030 net) acres in the North Park Basin in northern Jackson County, Colorado. The Basin is divided into three principal opportunities: the North and South McCallum units and the non-unit acreage. The Company operates the North and South McCallum fields. The McCallum field covers 10,277 gross (8,606 net) acres of federal land with the majority of the oil production coming from a waterflood in the Pierre B formation and the carbon dioxide production coming from naturally flowing Dakota wells. Oil production is trucked to the market while carbon dioxide production is sent to a Praxair plant for processing and delivery to the market. In the North Park Basin, its estimated proved reserves as of December 31, 2010, were approximately 696.1 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 100% were oil. Its average net production during April 2011, was approximately 140 barrels of oil equivalent per day. All of the Company�� 47,003 gross (39,030 net) acres in the North Park Basin are prospective for the Niobrara oil shale.
In California the Company owns acreage in four fields: Kern River, Midway Sunset and Greeley, which the Company operates, and Sargent, which it does not. Its estimated proved reserves in California were 886 million barrels of oil equivalent at December 31, 2010. As of April 30, 2011, we had a total of 57 gross (48.7 net) producing wells and its average net daily production was approximately 218 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Its working interest for all producing wells averages 85.4% and its net revenue interest is approximately 71.9%. As of December 31, 2010, it had identified approximately 18 gross (13.6 net) PUD locations in California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Ben Levisohn]
Not all stocks are created equal, however, and the analysts expect some stocks to handily outperform others, and their top picks “are poised to deliver long-term, capital-efficient growth…while trading at attractive valuations that currently provide 20%+ upside to our price targets.” Their winners?�Oasis Petroleum (OAS),�Approach Resources (AREX),�Bonanza Creek Energy�(BCEI) and Gulfport Energy�(GPOR), all of which are rated Buy with Oasis also added to Goldman’s conviction list. Investors, however, should avoid �WPX Energy�(WPX), which the analysts rate a Sell. They explain why:
- [By Holly LaFon]
Another area that is intriguing to us is the North American energy sector which looks to have a number of interesting catalysts currently. While the energy sector is at present only a modest overweight in the portfolios, we have been encouraged by several trends taking place for a number of years. These positive developments are also having an impact that goes far beyond the energy sector itself. Many believe that the U.S. will become energy independent and possibly a net exporter of natural gas and oil (currently restricted by law) in the next decade. This opinion is based primarily on the development of new drilling techniques (i.e. horizontal drilling, and high pressure fracking) that have enabled companies to access oil and natural gas reserves in shale formations that were previously not economically viable. The ability to tap into this acreage is a game-changer in our view and is already having a tremendous impact on the economy. Employment rates in these mostly rural areas surrounding the shale basins are very high and companies thus find hiring extremely competitive. Strong labor markets tend to create strong local economies. Oil States International (OIS) has been able to capitalize on this trend by providing housing and other services to oil service workers that are in demand in the area. CST Brands (CST) operates gas stations in Texas, but it is increasingly looking to broaden its product offering beyond fuel. Rail companies like Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific (CP), Kansas City Southern (KSU) and Genesee and Wyoming (GWR) have also benefited substantially. Given that shale areas are rural and often lacking infrastructure, substantial investment must be made to support drilling and production activities. Without pipelines in place, railroads have been the primary takeaway mechanism for moving production to the various clusters of refining capacity around the United States. In order to serve this demand, massive investment in railcars has been nee
- [By Holly LaFon]
Bonanza Creek Energy, Inc. (BCEI) is an independent exploration and production company that is most active in the Niobrara Shale play in Northeast Colorado. The stock has performed well this quarter following improving drilling results from projects designed to fully understand the potential prospectivity of its acreage position in the Niobrara play. The stock also has benefited from management's decision to increase capital spending and accelerate the net present value of its resource base.
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Kaman Corporation (KAMN)
Kaman Corporation operates in the aerospace and industrial distribution markets. The company?s Industrial Distribution segment distributes products, including bearings, mechanical and electrical power transmission, fluid power, motion control, and materials handling components. The segment offers its products through approximately 200 branches, distribution centers, and call centers in the United States, including Puerto Rico, as well as in Canada and Mexico. Its Aerospace segment produces and/or markets proprietary aircraft bearings and components; and complex metallic and composite aerostructures for commercial, military, and general aviation fixed and rotary wing aircraft. This segment also provides safing and arming solutions for missile and bomb systems for the U.S. and allied militaries; support for its maritime helicopters and medium-to-heavy lift helicopters; and offers engineering design, analysis, and certification services, as well as subcontracts helicopter wor k. Kaman Corporation also operates in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. The company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Bloomfield, Conn.-based Kaman Corporation (NYSE: KAMN ) will have a new Chief Financial Officer soon.
On Thursday, the aircraft parts-maker announced that when current CFO William C. Denninger retires on June 30, he will quickly be succeeded (the very next day, in fact) by newly promoted Senior Vice President and CFO Robert D. Starr.
- [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]
Along those lines, neither ITT, RBC Bearings, nor Kaman (KAMN) are up much on this news - some of that may be due to the fact that the whole space (including Kaydon) was near a 52-week high, but some of it may also be due to the fact that Kaydon was a pretty rare asset in the space and there likely aren't enough strategic buyers to justify pumping up the fair values of those companies on the basis of what a strategic acquirer could (or might) pay.
- [By Rich Smith]
Bloomfield, Conn.-based Kaman Corporation (NYSE: KAMN ) looks likely to land a sizable contract with the New Zealand Ministry of Defense, the company announced late Thursday.
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: MyEcheck Inc (MYEC)
MyECheck, Inc. (MyECheck), incorporated on May 18, 2005, is an electronic transaction data processor. The Company provides an alternative payment solution to paper checks, cards or ACH payments. MyECheck utilizes a method of clearing check data for payments. MyECheck offers implemented solutions that enable real-time payments by authorized electronic check. MyECheck�� electronic check service creates and clears checks using only customer account data without the hassle and delays of paper checks. MyECheck's system enables more payers - any authorized signor on any United States checking account, for any amount. MyECheck's transactions can even be payment guaranteed.
Electronic Check Service
Payer check data is collected by the Merchant either at customer registration, or on their Website, through a mobile device, or over the telephone, and is transmitted in real-time, or in batch to MyECheck for processing. MyECheck uses technology to generate electronic checks in accordance with the Federal Reserve Check 21 specification, and transmits the items to clear through the electronic check clearing system to the Merchant's account at one of its partner banks.
Check Authorization Service
MyECheck offers Check Authorization Service that enables merchants to verify consumer provided data, check the status of their customer�� bank account, provide evidence that the consumer has authorized the check and predict the likelihood of a check being returned unpaid. Transactions are immediately and automatically evaluated and approved or declined based upon the real time results of multiple fraud control tools. Businesses that accept MyECheck payments can use this service to provide an automated real time check authorization to mitigate returned items.
Check Guarantee Service
The check guarantee provider warranties all approved checks and reimburses the Payee (Merchant) for financial losses incurred as a result of returned checks. The C! heck Guarantee Provider buys the returned checks that have been warranted from merchants for the full face value of the returned checks. MyECheck merchants utilize Check Guarantee Service so that they can ship products or provide services immediately without having to wait to determine if the check will be returned unpaid. The Check Guarantee Service also eliminates the need for Merchants to collect on returned checks from their customers.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Peter Graham]
Small cap stocks Rewards Nexus Inc (OTCMKTS: ERNI), MyEcheck Inc (OTCMKTS: MYEC) and ITonis Inc (OTCMKTS: ITNS) fell 29.6%, 18.92% and 9.09%, respectively, last Friday. Moreover, some of these small cap stocks are already making big moves again this morning - perhaps in part because they have all been the subject of recent paid promotions. So where are these small cap heading this week and for the long term? Here is a quick reality check:
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ur Energy Inc(URG)
Ur-Energy Inc., an exploration stage junior mining company, engages in the identification, acquisition, evaluation, exploration, and development of uranium mineral properties. The company has 13 projects located in Wyoming and Nebraska, the United States; and 3 exploration projects located in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada. Its landholdings cover approximately 90,000 acres in the United States and approximately 140,000 acres in Canada. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Since the start of the week, small cap nuclear fuel stock USEC Inc (NYSE: USU) more than doubled for investors, something that has not happened for investors in uranium stocks like Uranium Resources, Inc (NASDAQ: URRE), Denison Mines Corp (NYSEMKT: DNN), Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSEMKT: URG) and Uranerz Energy Corp (NYSEMKT: URZ). To recap: USEC Inc closed at the $6 level on Friday, but then it surged to the $15 level on Monday only to open at the $10 level on Tuesday when it ultimately closed at $12.46. So what in the world is going on with USEC Inc and is it time to revisit nuclear fuel and uranium stocks?
- [By The Energy Report]
DS: Two of our top picks are Cameco Corp. (CCJ) and Ur-Energy Inc. (URG). For Cameco, we've got a $25/share target and an outperform rating. This company is the industry's go-to, the blue chip uranium company. It's organically growing very low-cost operations, which are for the most part in very safe jurisdictions. It has a lower-risk approach to contracts, with a targeted pricing mix of about 40% fixed-pricing and 60% market-related pricing in the contract book. The company's got a solid balance sheet. We think it's going to end Q3/13 with about $800M in working capital and another $2 billion [$2B] in undrawn lines of credit. It's also diversified across the nuclear fuel chain, with exposure not only to its core uranium mining business but also with nuclear fuel services, like conversion and fuel fabrication. It's got a stake in the Bruce nuclear power plant as well as a newly bolted-on uranium trading business, so it's quite diversified. On top of that, Cameco pays a 2% dividend. We think it offers a very attractive risk/reward proposition at these levels.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
If you listened to my bullish calls from December 27th and/or February 24th about Uranerz Energy Corp. (NYSEMKT:URZ), Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE), and Ur-Energy Inc. (NYSEMKT:URG), then congratulations - you're now up as much as 50%, depending on when you stepped into a trade, and which stock you chose. Now get out. See, as well as URZ and URG have done and are doing (URRE not so much), it looks like the short-term rally I first spotted a little more than a couple of months ago has fully run its course, and now these names are setting up a pullback.
Hot Consumer Service Stocks To Invest In Right Now: American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL)
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company, through its subsidiaries, operates in the insurance business in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company underwrites fixed annuities, including fixed index annuities and fixed rate annuities, as well as single premium immediate annuities. It also offers life insurance products comprising traditional ordinary and term, universal life, and other interest-sensitive life insurance products. The company markets its products through a brokerage distribution network of approximately 60 national marketing organizations and approximately 24,000 independent agents. American Equity Investment Life Holding Company was founded in 1995 and is based in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Louis Navellier]
American Equity Life (AEL) specializes in fixed-rate and index annuities, and business has been booming as cautious investors and savers look for places to put their money. The company has posted four consecutive positive earnings surprises, causing analysts to raise their estimates for 2014 in the past few months. The shares are still cheap when viewed thought the lenses of the P/E ratio, but more importantly, AEL has the type of solid fundamentals and investor demand that signify a potential winning stock. Shares of American Equity were upgraded to an ����grade back in August, and AEL remains a ��trong buy.��/p>
- [By CRWE]
American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (NYSE:AEL), a leading underwriter of index and fixed rate annuities, reported that Wendy C. Waugaman, Chief Executive Officer and President, will take a medical leave of absence, effective immediately. She will remain on American Equity�� Board of Directors and will participate in certain management and strategic discussions as her health permits.
- [By U.S. News]
In at least one Texas bank and one Ohio credit union, 3D video banking is currently undergoing testing, according to TheFinancialBrand.com, a website for bank and credit union marketing executives. Three-dimensional video banking is similar to a consumer video conference with a bank representative –- only in this case, the executive looks like a living, breathing person sitting across from you. Thanks to theater surround sound, the representative also sounds as if they're in the same room. And since the consumer is interacting with a real person and not an automated hologram, the experience apparently isn't much different than the real thing. Banking and managing money isn't what it used to be. The 1970s and 1980s brought us the rise of the ATM. Consumers became acquainted with online banking during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s. The 2010s are shaping up as the era of mobile banking. That was underscored Sept. 10-11 in New York City when Mitek Systems Inc. (MITK), a San Diego-based technology company, debuted its Mobile Photo Account Opening product at Finovate, a trade show where banking tech products are often unveiled. The product allows consumers to open a bank account within 60 seconds. If you have your bank's app, you can use your smartphone's camera to take a photo of the front and back of your driver's license, and presto, your new checking, savings or credit card account is open. Here's a look at other financial products and services personal financial experts think we'll be using in the future. Within 10 years. "The economic payments system will begin to 'know us,' either through biometrics, optical sensor or facial recognition," says Joshua Siegel, managing principal of StoneCastle Partners, a New York-based asset management firm that invests in banks. That's already happening to some extent with smartphones –- the new Apple (AAPL) iPhone 5S, for example, uses fingerprint scanning to unlock the phone. Meanwhile, some fi
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