It was a middling day for the market, despite healthy GDP data and no tragic pronouncement from the Federal Reserve.
The S&P 500 Index moved fractionally higher to 1,970.07, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 31.75 points or 0.19% to 16,880.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 20.2 points or 0.45% to 4,462.90.
Shares of Bank of America (BAC) rallied 1.56% Wednesday to $15.58 despite news�that Bank of America must pay a $1.27 billion penalty related to aggressive mortgage activity at Countrywide Financial. The government sought a $2.1 billion penalty. The judge in the case ordered�former Countrywide executive Rebecca Mairone to pay $1 million.
Separately,�Bank of America said it reduced its exposure in Russia.
Amgen (AMGN) shares rallied 5.4% to %130.01 one day after the drug company reported better-than-consensus earnings. Leerink Swan increased its price target to $140 from $135, with greater clarity given fresh updates on drug filings. While a restructuring also was announced, it is a positive, write Leerink analysts Howard Liang, Richard Goss and Gena Wang:
Top Heal Care Stocks To Own For 2015: Westmoreland Coal Company(WLB)
Westmoreland Coal Company operates as an energy company in the United States. The company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production and sale of sub-bituminous coal and lignite to electricity generating plants; and the ownership of power plants in North Carolina. It owns 5 surface coal mines in Montana, North Dakota, and Texas; and 2 coal-fired power generating units with a capacity of approximately 230 megawatts in Weldon, North Carolina. As of December 31, 2010, Westmoreland Coal Company had estimated proven and probable coal reserves of 389.9 million tons. The company was founded in 1854 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Obama�� war on coal has claimed another victim as James River Coal Company (NASDAQ: JRCC) files for Chapter 11, but coal stocks Westmoreland Coal Company (NASDAQ: WLB), Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (NASDAQ: ARLP) and Hallador Energy Co (NASDAQ: HNRG) have still managed to put in a decent performance for investors���despite the industry headwinds coming from the White House. Just consider this: By 2025, 300 of America�� coal plants will close due to EPA policies for a total of 44,000 megawatts of generating capacity in 33 states to be taken off line. Moreover, Democrats have been putting up roadblocks to stop coal exports���one potential industry bright spot as the US�has the largest coal repository in the world.
- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Tuesday, energy shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 1.41 percent. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included Stone Energy (NYSE: SGY), up 9 percent, and Westmoreland Coal Co (NYSE: WLB), up 7.8 percent. Industrials services shares gained by just 0.02 percent in Tuesday's trading.
Best Managed Healthcare Stocks For 2014: iShares Global Tech ETF (IXN)
iShares S&P Global Technology Sector Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Standard & Poor�� Global Information Technology Sector Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the Standard & Poor�� Global 1200 Index, and measures the performance of companies that Standard & Poor�� deems to be part of the information technology sector. Component companies include those involved in the development and production of technology products, including computer hardware and software, telecommunications equipment, microcomputer components, integrated computer circuits and office equipment utilizing technology.
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 Russ Koesterich]
The list above is based on my team's analysis of whether sector valuations appropriately price in each sector's expected earnings growth, profitability and risk. Based on these factors, I have a preference for the energy and informational technology sectors, accessible through the iShares S&P Global Energy Sector Fund (IXC) and the iShares S&P Global Technology Sector Fund (IXN). And as I write in my new Investment Directions commentary piece, if it turns out that we do see more investors rotating out of defensives and into more attractively priced cyclicals, these two sectors are poised to especially benefit.
Best Managed Healthcare Stocks For 2014: Landauer Inc (LDR)
Landauer, Inc. (Landauer) is a provider of technical and analytical services to determine occupational and environmental radiation exposure. The Company is domestic provider of outsourced medical physics services. The Company operates in two segments: Radiation Monitoring and Medical Physics. The Company has provided radiation dosimetry services to hospitals, medical and dental offices, universities, national laboratories, nuclear facilities and other industries. Landauer's services include the manufacture of radiation detection monitors, the distribution and collection of the monitors to and from customers, and the analysis and reporting of exposure findings. In addition to providing analytical services, the Company leases or sells dosimetry detectors and reading equipment to customers. Medical physics services are provided through the Company's Global Physics Solutions, Inc. (GPS) subsidiary. In November 2011, it acquired IZI Medical Products, LLC.
In November 2009, Landauer completed the acquisition of GPS. GPS is a nationwide service provider of clinical physics support, equipment commissioning and accreditation support and imaging equipment testing. In June 2010, Landauer, through its GPS subsidiary, completed the acquisition of Upstate Medical Physics (UMP), a provider of imaging physics services in New York. In November 2009, Landauer completed the acquisition of Gammadata Matteknik AB (GDM), a Swedish provider of radon measurement services. GDM provides measurement services throughout the Scandinavian region and Europe. In October 2009, Landauer completed the acquisition of dosimetry service in Sweden, called Landauer Persondosimetri AB (PDM).
The Radiation Monitoring revenues are realized from radiation monitoring services and other services incidental to radiation dose measurement. The Company enters into agreements with customers to provide them with radiation monitoring services, for a 12 month period. As part of its services, the Company provides to its custome! rs radiation detection badges, which are produced and owned by the Company. The badges are worn for a period selected by the customers (wear period), which is usually one, two, or three months in duration. At the end of the wear period, the badges are returned to the Company for analysis. The Company analyzes the badges that have been worn and provides its customers with a report indicating their radiation exposures. The Company recycles certain badge components for reuse, while also producing replacement badges on a continual basis.
The Company offers its service for measuring the dosages of x-ray, gamma radiation and other penetrating ionizing radiations, to which the wearer has been exposed, through badges, which contain optically stimulated luminescent (OSL) material, which are worn by customer personnel. This technology is marketed under the trade names Luxel+ and InLight. A component of the Company's dosimetry system is OSL crystal material. The Company's base OSL material is manufactured utilizing a process to create aluminum oxide crystals in a structure that is able to retain charged electrons following the crystal's exposure to radiation.
Landauer's InLight dosimetry system provides in-house and commercial laboratories with the ability to provide in-house radiation monitoring services using OSL technology. InLight services involve a customer acquiring or leasing dosimetry devices, as well as analytical reading equipment from the Company. The InLight system allows customers the flexibility to tailor their dosimetry needs. Landauer's operations include services for the measurement and monitoring of radon gas. The Company offers a service, which provides radon monitoring and, when necessary, remediation to purchasers of personal residences. Testing requires the customer to deploy a radon detector and return the detector to the Company's laboratories for dose determination and reporting. The Company assists with remediation services on properties where radon measurements ! exceed a ! specified threshold.
The Company competes with Mirion Technologies.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Landauer (NYSE: LDR ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
Best Managed Healthcare Stocks For 2014: Credit Suisse Group(CS)
Credit Suisse Group AG, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial services company. The company operates in three segments: Private Banking, Investment Banking, and Asset Management. The Private Banking segment offers advisory services and a range of wealth management solutions, including pension planning, life insurance products, tax planning, and wealth and inheritance advice for the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. This segment also supplies banking products and services to affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, and corporates and institutions. The Investment Banking segment provides investment banking and securities products and services to corporations, governments, pension funds, and institutions. Its products and services include debt and equity underwriting, sales and trading, mergers and acquisitions advice, divestitures, corporate sales, restructuring, and investment research. The Asset Management segment offe rs integrated investment solutions and services to institutions, governments, foundations and endowments, corporations, and individuals. It provides access to a range of investment classes across alternative investment, asset allocation, and traditional investment strategies. The company operates in Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. Credit Suisse Group AG was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Vaughan Scully, ,]
Three of the fund's top 10 holdings��NG Groep (ING), BNP Paribas (Paris:BNP) (US:BNPQY), and Credit Suisse Group (CS)��re European financials that came into the fund beginning in early 2012, when the team began to sense the pessimism regarding the European banking sector was too extreme.
- [By Lisa Levin]
Credit Suisse Group AG (NYSE: CS) shares reached a new 52-week low of $27.86. Credit Suisse's trailing-twelve-month EPS is $1.13.
PriceSmart (NASDAQ: PSMT) shares touched a new 52-week low of $80.18 after the company reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the third quarter. PriceSmart posted its quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share on revenue of $615 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.69 per share on revenue of $621.9 million.
- [By Andrew Marder]
Investors looking for a bank further down the line might want to look into Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS ) . The Swiss bank also reported today, but the news was weighted on the positive side. Revenue and income both increased, and the bank has recently taken on some wealth management opportunities while shedding riskier private equity operations. While the bank still has some troubles to overcome -- it was recently admonished for its high pay -- there's a lot to like at Credit Suisse�these days.�
Best Managed Healthcare Stocks For 2014: Dynegy Inc (DYN)
Dynegy Inc. (Dynegy), incorporated in 2007, is a holding company and conducts the business operations through its subsidiaries. Dynegy�� primary business is the production and sale of electric energy, capacity and ancillary services from the fleet of 16 operating power plants in six states totaling approximately 11,600 megawatts of generating capacity. The Company sells electric energy, capacity and ancillary services on a wholesale basis from its power generation facilities. Its customers include Regional Transmission Organization (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs), integrated utilities, municipalities, electric cooperatives, transmission and distribution utilities, industrial customers, power marketers, financial participants, such as banks and hedge funds, and other power generators. Dynegy operates in three segments: the Coal segment (Coal), the Gas Segment (Gas) and the Dynegy Northeast Segment (DNE). In September 2011, it acquired direct ownership of Dynegy Coal Holdco, LLC. In July 2012, the Company announced that it has filed a voluntary petition to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Poughkeepsie Division. It emerged from bankruptcy, on October 1, 2012. In May 2013, the Company sold its Roseton power generation facility (Roseton) to a subsidiary of Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI).
Coal segment
Dynegy�� Coal segment consists of four operating coal-fired power generation facilities and two operating natural gas-fired peaker facilities in Illinois with a total generating capacity of 3,132 megawatts. On November 17, 2011, it permanently retired the 176 megawatts Vermilion power generation facility. As of December 31, 2011, the facilities operated entirely within MISO. Its Coal segment is primarily a fleet of baseload coal facilities, located in Illinois. The MISO market includes all of Wisconsin and portions of Michigan, Kentucky, Indian! a, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Manitoba, Canada. MISO is as an independent RTO.
Gas Segment
Dynegy�� Gas segment consists of seven operating natural gas-fired power generation facilities located in California (two), Nevada (one), Illinois (one), Pennsylvania (one), New York (one), and Maine (one), and one fuel-oil fired power generation facility located in California, totaling 6,771 megawatts of electric generating capacity. On November 7, 2011, it deconsolidated DH, which indirectly owns all of its assets in the Gas segment. The PJM market includes all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The Company�� Kendall and Ontelaunee facilities located in Illinois and Pennsylvania operate in PJM with an aggregate net generating capacity of 1,780 megawatts.
DNE Segment
Dynegy�� DNE segment consists of the Roseton and Danskammer facilities located in Newburgh, New York, with a total capacity of 1,693 megawatts. Its total of 1,570 megawatts of generation capacity relates to leased units at the two facilities. The Company�� Roseton and Danskammer facility sites are adjacent and share common resources, such as fuel handling, a docking terminal, personnel and certain associated systems.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Justin Loiseau]
With a successful $900 million asset sale to Dynegy (NYSE: DYN ) in March, Ameren has three leftover gas-fired energy centers it still needs to offload.
Best Managed Healthcare Stocks For 2014: BRF SA (BRFS)
BRF - Brasil Foods S.A. (BRF), incorporated on August 18, 1934, is a food company, which focuses on the production and sale of poultry, pork, beef cuts, milk, dairy products and processed food products under several brands. The Company�� processed products include marinated, frozen, whole and cut Chester rooster and turkey meats, specialty meats, frozen processed meats, frozen prepared entrees, portioned products and sliced products. It also sells margarine, juices, soy products, animal feed, fresh pasta, sweet specialties and sandwiches. During the year ended December 31, 2010, it launched 333 new products, including Meu Menu (My Menu) portfolio, which is targeted at single people.
Poultry
The Company produces frozen whole and cut poultries, partridges and quail. During 2010, it sold 1,895 thousand tons of frozen chicken and other poultry products. During 2010, it produced 1,694 million day-old chicks, including chickens, Chester roosters, turkeys, partridge and quail. It hatches these eggs in its 25 hatcheries. As of December 31, 2010, it had a fully automated slaughtering capacity of 31.2 million heads of poultry per week.
Pork and Beef
The Company produces frozen pork and beef cuts, such as loins and ribs, and whole carcasses. During 2010, it sold 427 thousand tons of pork and beef cuts. Iits sales of pork cuts are to its export markets. As of December 31, 2010, it had a beef slaughtering capacity of 1,797 heads per week.
Milk
The Company produces pasteurized and ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk, which it sells in its domestic market. During 2010, it sold 873 thousand tons of pasteurized and UHT milk. It produces dairy products in 15 plants. It receives milk from a network of over 11,000 milk producers in more than 553 cities.
Processed Food Products
The Company produces processed foods, such as marinated, frozen chicken, Chester rooster and turkey meat, specialty meats, frozen processed foo! ds, frozen prepared entrees, dairy products, portioned products and sliced products. During 2010, it sold 2,472 thousand tons of processed foods. It processes pork to produce specialty meats, such as sausages, ham products, bologna, frankfurters, salamis, bacon and cold meats. It also processes chicken and other poultry to produce specialty meats, such as chicken sausages, chicken hot dogs and chicken bologna. It produces a range of frozen processed poultry, beef and pork products, including hamburgers, steaks, breaded meat products, kibes, meatballs and ready-to-eat snacks. It also produces soy-based vegetarian products, such as hamburgers and breaded products. It produces marinated and seasoned chickens, roosters and turkeys.
The Company produces several varieties of lasagna and pizza. It produces the meat used in these products and buys other raw materials in the domestic market, except for the durum flour used to make the noodles for the lasagna, which it imports. It sells a range of frozen vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, peas, French beans, French fries and cassava fries, through its Escolha Saudavel line of products. It produces a range of pies and pastries, such as chicken and heart-of-palm pies and lime pies. It produces the meat, sauces and toppings used in its pies and pastries, and it purchases other raw materials, such as heart-of-palm, lime and other fillings from third parties.
Other
The Company produces animal feed mainly to feed poultry and hogs raised by it. It also sells a portion of its animal feed production to its integrated outgrowers or to unaffiliated customers. It produces a range of soy-based products, including soy meal and refined soy flour.
The Company competes with Sadia, Aurora, Marfig, Danone, Nestle, Paulista, Frangosul, Plamplona and Aurora.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By MONEYMORNING.COM]
And with very quick gains of 9% in BRF SA (NYSE ADR: BRFS), 5.2% in South American agricultural play Adecoagro SA (NYSE: AGRO) and 1.6% in high-tech agribusiness player Neogen Corp. (Nasdaq: NEOG), we're doing well with our plays on (pockets of) accelerating U.S. inflation.
- [By Jon C. Ogg]
BRF S.A. (NYSE: BRFS) should be safe on the surface as a meat-producing and dairy giant. Apparently being defensive doesn’t help either. At $18.50, its 52-week range is $18.34 to $26.35. This ADR is down just over 10% so far in 2014.
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