Saturday, May 31, 2014

Top 5 Quality Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Quality Companies To Invest In Right Now: Active Control Techn (ACTV)

The Active Network, Inc. provides organization-based cloud computing applications services to business customers in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers ActiveWorks, an organization-based cloud computing platform, which transforms the way organizers record, track, manage, and share information regarding activities and events. Its ActiveWorks back-office system pulls customers participant management, operational reporting, volunteer management, and service and payment processing functions into one hosted system. The company also provides consulting services, which consist primarily of business mapping, project management services, and guidance on best practices in using its services; and implementation services, including system set-up and configuration, and data conversion, as well as develops customized training and education programs relating to both the use and administration of its services. It serves a range of customers, including communit y and sports organizations, large corporations, small and medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, federal and state government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other related entities. The company was formerly known as Racegate.com, Inc. and changed its name to The Active Network, Inc. in May 2001. The Active Network, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Lethargic networks
    As Home Depot rose in value over the past year, Active Network (NYSE: ACTV  ) , an online event-management service, has been going in the opposite direction, suffering a yearlong decline that's resulted in the loss of 70% of the company's value. Yesterday, though, it went in the other direction, jumping more than 10% after announcing that it will soon be reporting its earnings.

  • [By Eric Volkman]

    Active Network (NYSE: A! CTV  ) is on the hunt for a new chief executive following the resignation of Matthew Landa. His place will be taken, on an interim basis, by Jon Belmonte. The appointment is effective immediately. Belmonte is the firm's former chief media officer and COO.

  • [By Selena Maranjian]

    The biggest new holdings are Liberty Mediaand AbbVie. Other new holdings of interest include The Active Network (NYSE: ACTV  ) , which specializes in online registrations for endurance events such as marathons and triathlons. The company recently signed a three-year deal with Ironman, and its most recent quarterly earnings report featured revenue up 12% and shrinking losses. Some have questioned the company's solvency, while others like its valuation.

  • [By Luke Jacobi]

    The Active Network (NYSE: ACTV) closed up 25.53 percent to $14.31 after the company agreed to be taken private by Vista Equity Partners for $1.05 billion.

  • source from USA Best Stocks:http://www.usabeststocks.com/top-5-quality-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Friday, May 30, 2014

5 Best Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now

Passenger satisfaction with North American airlines reached a record high and improved for the second consecutive year, a new J.D. Power survey released Wednesday indicates.

Satisfaction with U.S. and Canadian airlines jumped to an average of 712 on a 1,000-point scale ��17 points higher than last year's survey.

"Passengers are over the sticker shock of being charged more to fly, having to pay for checked bags, expedited security clearance or preferred seating," says Rick Garlick of J.D. Power, the marketing research company that annually conducts the survey.

Passengers aren't satisfied with fees, but they realize fees "have become a way of life with air travel," he says.

Results of the new J.D. Power survey ��which was conducted April 2013-March 2014 ��re based on responses of 11,370 passengers who flew on a major North American airline between March 2013 and March 2014.

5 Best Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Air France KLM SA (AFLYY.PK)

Air France-KLM SA (Air France-KLM), incorporated on April 23, 1947, is an airline engaged in the business of passenger transportation. It has four segments: Passenger, Cargo, Maintenance and Other. The Company�� primary business is to hold direct or indirect interests in the capital of air transport companies and, more generally, in any companies in France or elsewhere whose purpose is related to the air transport business. Air France-KLM activities also include cargo, aeronautics maintenance and other air-transport related activities including, principally, catering and charter services. At March 31, 2011, the Air France-KLM group fleet consists of 609 aircraft, of which 593 were operational. At March 31, 2011, 274 aircraft were fully owned (45% of the fleet), 117 aircraft were under finance lease representing 19% of the fleet and 218 under operating lease representing 36% of the fleet.

Passenger

Passenger operating revenues primarily come from passenger transportation services on scheduled flights with the Company�� airline code, including flights operated by other airlines under code-sharing agreements. They also include commissions paid by SkyTeam alliance partners, code-sharing revenues, revenues from excess baggage and airport services supplied by the Company�� to third party airlines and services linked to information technology (IT) systems.

Cargo

Cargo operating revenues come from freight transport on flights under the companies��codes, including flights operated by other partner airlines under code-sharing agreements. Other cargo revenues are derived principally from sales of cargo capacity to third parties. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, the Company transported more than 1.5 million tons of cargo, of which 66% in the bellies of passenger aircraft and 33% in the cargo fleet, to a network of approximately 254 destinations in approximately 111 countries. Air France-KLM Cargo has a product range organized around four prod! uct families, Equation, Cohesion, Variation and Dimension.

Maintenance

Maintenance operating revenues are generated through maintenance services provided to other airlines and customers globally. The Company�� two engine shops are located in Amsterdam and Paris. CFM56 engine shops support the fleet of CFM56-5 power plants in the world, with nearly 400 engines operated by numerous airlines. CF6-80E1 provides full-service maintenance. KLM Engineering & Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) provides an alternative to the manufacturer�� services in terms of overhaul and services on this engine with its offering supported by technological infrastructure.

Other

The revenues from this segment come primarily from catering supplied by the Company to third-party airlines and to charter flights operated primarily by Transavia. The catering business is regrouped around Servair, an Air France subsidiary which generates more than 90% of the revenues of this activity, and KLM Catering Services, a subsidiary of KLM.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By El Torero]

    The airline will undoubtedly pounce on the likely failings of rival companies, though this is also an area where easyJet will be eager to move in. Spanair is gone as is Malev Zrt, two former Ryanair rivals. Air France-KLM (AFLYY.PK) and Iberia are in trouble, among other European airlines. Ryanair will take advantage of such weaknesses in its aim of becoming Europe's out-and-out dominant short-haul carrier. As other airlines cut routes, airports are now looking to Ryanair to take up the newly available airport space. As a result of this, with "opportunities opening up in Germany, Scandinavia and Central Europe" in particular, Ryanair's deputy chief executive, Howard Millar sees the Irish company increase its market share from 15 percent to 20 percent before the end of the decade.

5 Best Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Gogo Inc (GOGO)

Gogo Inc incorporated on December 14, 2009, is a holding company. The Company operates through its two operating subsidiaries, Gogo LLC and Aircell Business Aviation Services LLC. The Company provides in-flight connectivity and wireless in-cabin digital entertainment solutions. It provide turnkey solutions for passengers to extend their connected lifestyles to the aircraft cabin. It operates in two segments: commercial aviation (CA) and business aviation (BA). Its CA business provides in-flight connectivity and digital entertainment solutions to commercial airline passengers through their personal Wi-Fi enabled devices.

The Company provides Gogo Connectivity to passengers to nine North American airlines that provide Internet connectivity to their passengers. It provide Gogo Connectivity to passengers on Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, US Airways, Frontier Airlines and Air Tran Airways. It also provide Gogo Connectivity to passengers on a small number of aircraft operated by United Airlines and Air Canada. As of September 30, 2011, the Company had equipped 1,177 commercial aircraft, representing approximately 85% of Internet-enabled North American commercial aircraft, which were operated on more than 4,200 daily flights.

The Company�� BA segment sells equipment and provides services for in-flight Internet connectivity and other voice and data communications under its Gogo Biz and Aircell branded products and services. BA�� customers include original equipment manufacturers of private jet aircraft such as Gulfstream, Cessna, Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier, Dassault, Embraer, NetJets, Flexjets, Flight Options and CitationAir. It sells equipment for three of the primary connectivity network options in the business aviation market: Gogo Biz, through which it delivers broadband Internet connectivity over its (air-to-ground )ATG network, and the Iridium and Inmarsat SwiftBroadband satellite networks. As of September 30, 2011, the Company had m! ore than 700 Gogo Biz systems in operation and more than 4,600 aircraft with Iridium satellite communications systems in operation, and it has sold more than 100 Inmarsat SwiftBroadband systems. It provides in-flight broadband connectivity across the contiguous United States and portions of Alaska through 3 MHz of FCC-licensed ATG spectrum and its network of cell sites.

Through its Gogo platform, the Company provides passengers with a convenient and easy way to access the Internet, view video content, send and receive email and instant messages, and access corporate VPNs on Gogo-equipped commercial aircraft. It provides Internet access through Gogo Connectivity, on-demand streaming video offerings through Gogo Vision and access to a variety of free entertainment and service offerings, customized for each airline, through Gogo Signature Services.

The Company competes with Panasonic Avionics, Row 44, OnAir, LiveTV and Thales.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO) shares were also up, gaining 9.06 percent to $14.92. UBS upgraded Gogo from Neutral to Buy.

    Equities Trading DOWN
    Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) were 10.50 percent to $71.85 after the company's board rejected the new $119 billion takeover offer from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO) shares jumped 8.46% to $25.90 in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

    Posted-In: PreMarket GainersNews Pre-Market Outlook Markets Movers

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    Big Earnings Movers: Gogo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOGO) is up 28.3% at $24.05. Gulf Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: GURE) is up 15.8% at $2.46.

    Stocks on the Move: ViroPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: VPHM) is up 25.4% at $49.38 on a $4.2 billion buyout offer from London-listed Shire. Zalicus Inc. (NASDAQ: ZLCS) is down 72.3% at $1.30 on a failed drug trial.

  • [By Jesse Solomon]

    Gogo (GOGO) shares have more than doubled since its June IPO, making it one of the hottest stocks on the Nasdaq.

    But not everyone is jumping on board.

Top Medical Companies To Watch For 2015: Copa Holdings SA (CPA)

Copa Holdings, S.A. (Copa Holdings), incorporated on May 06, 1998, is a Latin American provider of airline passenger and cargo service through its two principal operating subsidiaries, Copa Airlines and Copa Colombia. Copa Airlines operates from its position in the Republic of Panama, and Copa Colombia provides service within Colombia and international flights from various cities in Colombia to Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala and Costa Rica, complemented with service within Colombia. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated a fleet of 83 aircraft with an average age of 5.13 years; consisting of 57 modern Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft and 26 Embraer 190 aircraft. . As of December 31, 2012, the Company offers approximately 334 daily scheduled flights among 64 destinations in 29 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, mainly from its Panama City Hub.

Copa provides passengers with access to flights to more than 150 other destinations through codeshare arrangements with UAL pursuant to which each airline places its name and flight designation code on the other�� flights. As of December 31, 2012, Copa had firm orders, including purchase and lease commitments, for 35 additional Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft. Copa also has options for an additional 14 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft.

The Company competes with Avianca-Taca, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and LAN Group.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Asit Sharma]

    The airline industry has a singular talent for draining the pockets of well-intentioned investors. Highly leveraged balance sheets and bankruptcies are the norm. Significant labor costs and unpredictable jet fuel prices wreak havoc on variable costs. Yet some airlines generate solid returns quarter after quarter. Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK  ) , Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY  ) , Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV  ) , and Copa Holdings (NYSE: CPA  ) each manage to be consistently profitable. Let's examine a few themes they share in common, and zero in on their individual strategic ideas.

  • [By Arie Goren]

    After running this screen on May 21, 2013, before the markets' open, I discovered the following eight stocks: Sunoco Logistics Partners LP (SXL), Leggett & Platt Inc (LEG), Copa Holdings SA (CPA), RPC Inc. (RES), Tupperware Brands Corp. (TUP), Herbalife Ltd. (HLF), John Wiley & Sons Inc. (JW.A) and C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW).

  • [By Michael J. Carr]

    Copa Holdings (NYSE: CPA) is also undervalued with a PEG ratio of 0.53. Copa Holdings provides airline passenger and cargo services within Colombia and international flights from various cities in Colombia to Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

5 Best Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: Global Eagle Entertainment Inc (ENT)

Global Eagle Entertainment Inc., formerly Global Eagle Acquisition Corp., incorporated on February 2, 2011, is the full service platform offering both content and connectivity for the worldwide airline industry. Through its combined content, distribution and technology platforms, the Company provides airlines and the millions of travelers they serve with the offering of in-flight video content, e-commerce and information services. Through its Row 44 subsidiary, the Company utilizes Ku-band satellite technology to provide airline passengers with Internet access, live television, shopping and travel-related information. As of February 1, 2013, the Company installed on more than 450 aircraft, Row 44 has the fleet of connected entertainment platforms operating over land and sea globally. In addition, through its AIA division, the Company provides film and television content, games and applications to more than 130 airlines worldwide. In July 2013, the Company announced the acquisition of Post Modern Group, LLC. In October 2013, Global Eagle Entertainment Inc announced that it has acquired Travel Entertainment Group Equity Limited, the United Kingdom-based parent company of IFE Services Limited (IFE Services) from GCP Capital Partners LLP.

The Company�� Row 44 subsidiary provides satellite-based broadband service to the global airline industry. The Company�� Advanced Inflight Alliance (AIA) business is the provider of content services, products and solutions for the global inflight entertainment market. AIA also serves as the exclusive representative in sourcing Hollywood content for 60 airline customers and is the exclusive distributor of content from select Hollywood studios and independent producers to the airline market. In addition, AIA is the airline distributor of Asian, Bollywood, European, Latin American and Middle Eastern content.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Richard Stavros]

    This was particularly the view of Leo Denault, CEO of Entergy Corp (NYSE: ENT). Mr. Denault and his fellow panelist, James Robo, CEO of NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE: NEE), offered rather refreshing perspectives on the industry’s challenges, as they are pursuing strategies that are directionally opposed.

  • [By Steve Symington]

    What:�Shares of Global Eagle Entertainment� (NASDAQ: ENT  ) �rose 12% early Friday, then settled close up around 7% after the in-flight content and connectivity specialist released solid first-quarter results.

5 Best Airline Stocks To Buy Right Now: United Continental Holdings Inc.(UAL)

United Continental Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of passenger and cargo air transportation services. As of February 24, 2011, it operated a total of approximately 5,675 flights a day to 372 airports on 6 continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, as well as in Washington, D.C. The company was formerly known as UAL Corporation and changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc. on October 1, 2010. United Continental Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Eric Volkman]

    For United (NYSE: UAL  ) , May wasn't exactly a month for the record books. The company released its metrics for the month on Monday, and they were generally down on a year-over-year basis.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now

After rising 155 points and then closing the day down 80 points yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) has reversed its course today, falling 125 points this morning before recovering nearly all of the day's losses. As of 12:5 p.m. EDT the index is down a negligible two points. The other major U.S. indexes are more firmly in the red: The S&P 500 is down 0.3%, and the�Nasdaq is lower by 0.13%.

This morning investors sold off stocks after China's industrial purchasing was reported to be weak and the Japanese market lost 7% of its value. But a positive housing report and another decline in unemployment claims here at home have the markets turning around. Initial jobless claims dropped by 23,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 340,000, where economists were expecting 345,000 claims.

Despite the encouraging housing reports released yesterday and this morning, shares of Home Depot (NYSE: HD  ) are down 1% today. Yesterday it was reported that existing-home sales rose by 0.6%�in April and that the average time on the market fell, while prices increased. Today, the Department of Commerce reported that the number of contracts signed to purchase new single-family homes rose by 2.3% in April to a seasonally adjusted rate of 454,000, whereas economists were only expecting 425,000. But these are backward-looking indicators, and investors may be focusing on the future and how the Federal Reserve may tighten interest rates sooner than many expect, which would surely hurt the housing market and Home Depot.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Enersys (ENS)

EnerSys manufactures, markets, and distributes industrial batteries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It offers reserve power products that are used for backup power for the continuous operation of critical applications in telecommunications systems, uninterruptible power systems applications for computer and computer-controlled systems, and in other specialty power applications, including security systems; starting, lighting, and ignition applications; switchgear and electrical control systems used in electric utilities and energy pipelines; and commercial aircraft, satellites, military aircraft, submarines, ships, and tactical vehicles. The company also offers motive power products that are used to provide power for manufacturing, warehousing, and other material handling equipment, including electric industrial forklift trucks, mining equipment, and diesel locomotive starting and other rail equipment. In addition, it offers industrial battery re lated products, such as chargers, power equipment, and battery accessories, as well as provides related after-market and customer-support services. EnerSys markets and sells its reserve power batteries principally under the ABSL, ABSL Power, ABSL Space, ArmaSafePlus, Cyclon, DataSafe, Genesis, Hawker, Huada, Odyssey, Oerlikon Battery, PowerSafe, and SuperSafe brand names; and motive power batteries primarily under the Douglas Battery, Express, Fiamm Motive Power, General Battery, Hawker, Huada, and Ironclad brand names through a network of distributors, independent representatives, and its internal sales force. The company was formerly known as Yuasa, Inc. and changed its name to EnerSys in January 2001 to reflect its focus on the energy systems business. EnerSys was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Michael Flannelly]

    Early on Wednesday, industrial battery manufacturer EnerSys (ENS) entered into an agreement to acquire Purcell Systems for $115 million.

    EnerSys expects the transaction to be accretive to its earnings by 15 to 20 cents per share in the first year. The company will finance the purchase of the Spokane, Washington-based company with existing cash and credit facilities.

    Purcell Systems is a manufacturer of “thermally managed electronic equipment and battery cabinet enclosures for customers globally in telecommunication, broadband, utility, rail and military applications.”

    EnerSys shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up 48.1% year-to-date.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    On Tuesday, EnerSys (NYSE: ENS  ) 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.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Stored energy solution specialist�EnerSys� (NYSE: ENS  ) �announced yesterday�it would be initiating its first quarterly dividend payment of $0.125 per share, payable on June 28 to the holders of record at the close of business on June 14.��

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: TOR Minerals International Inc(TORM)

TOR Minerals International, Inc., a specialty chemical company, engages in the manufacture and marketing of mineral products. Its mineral products are used as pigments, pigment extenders, functional fillers, and flame retardants for the manufacture of paints, coatings, plastics, catalysts, and solid surface applications. The company?s principal product includes HITOX, a light buff-colored titanium dioxide pigment used in paints, coatings, plastics, paper, and various other types of products. It also offers ALUPREM (premium alumina) products that are used for color critical applications as fillers and flame retardants; BARYPREM, which provides whiteness for color critical applications; TIOPREM, a series of heat stable colored TiO2 hybrid pigments used in various applications, such as engineered plastics, laminates, window profiles, plastic lumber, roofing granules, and ceramic coatings; and SYNTHETIC RUTILE used as a feed stock for white TiO2 and as a component in welding rod flux. In addition, the company provides BARTEX, an inert extender pigment, which offers weight and body to products comprising powder coatings used in automotive, appliance, and office furniture finishes; rubber products, such as carpet and curtain backings; and plastics, including billiard balls and poker chips; and HALTEX/OPTILOAD used in technical applications, including thermoset composites, sheet molding compounds/bulk molding compounds, thermoplastic profiles, electrical wire and cable insulation, mining conveyor belts, specialty coatings, and adhesives and sealants. TOR Minerals International sells its products through a network of direct sales representatives and independent stocking distributors in the United States, as well as through distributors and agents internationally. The company was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    TOR Minerals International (NASDAQ: TORM) shares touched a new 52-week low of $9.76. TOR Minerals shares have dropped 9.95% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 27.45% in the same period.

Top 5 High Dividend Companies To Watch For 2015: International Flavors & Fragrances Inc (IFF)

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), incorporated on December 6, 1909, creates, manufactures and supplies flavors and fragrances for the food, beverage, personal care and household products industries. The Company operates in two business segments: Flavors and Fragrances. Its Flavors business includes four categories of products: Savory, Beverages, Sweet, pharmaceutical and oral care (Sweet), and Dairy. Its Fragrances business consists of Fragrance Compounds and Fragrance Ingredients. The Company has 29 manufacturing sites around the world that support more than 36,000 products. Its manufacturing facilities are located in the United States, the Netherlands, Spain, Great Britain, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore. In January 2014, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. completed the acquisition of Aromor Flavors and Fragrances Ltd.

Flavors

The Company�� Flavors business is regional in nature, with different formulas that reflect local taste and ingredients. It produces flavors, which are used in soups, sauces, condiments, prepared meals, meat and poultry, and potato chips and other savory snacks. The Company creates flavors for juice drinks, carbonated beverages, flavored waters and spirits. The Company creates flavor concepts and heat-stable flavors for bakery products, as well as candy, chewing gum and cereal. For pharmaceutical and oral care products, it produces flavors for products, such as toothpaste and mouthwash and to create flavors that work while masking the active ingredients. The Company offers a range of value-added compounded flavors for all dairy applications, including yogurt, ice cream, cheese, cream and butter flavor. The Company also offers a range of vanilla extracts and a variety of flavor solutions that build on its understanding of vanilla. It is also developing flavor profiles in its CulinEssence program to bring culinary flavors to its customers.

Fragrances

The ! Company within its Beauty Care product line provides its customers products in the hair care, toiletries and skincare categories. The Company has three subcategories of products, in which its fragrances are included Fabric Care, including laundry detergents, fabric softeners and specialty laundry products; Personal Wash, including bar soap and shower gel, and Home Care, including household cleaners, dishwashing detergents and air fresheners. It manufactures fragrance ingredients for internal use by its perfumers in its Fragrances business and for external use by its customers and other third parties, including its competitors. The Company manufactures its ingredients through its global network of production facilities.

The Company competes with Givaudan, Firmenich and Symrise.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF  ) .

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Timios National Corp (HOMS)

Timios National Corporation, formerly Homeland Security Capital Corporation, incorporated on August 12, 1997, provides radiological, nuclear, environmental, disaster relief and electronic security solutions to government and commercial customers. The Company is engaged in the strategic acquisition, operation, development and consolidation of companies operating in the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive, (CBRNE), incident response and security marketplaces within the homeland security industry. It is building consolidated enterprises (platform companies) through the acquisition and integration of businesses in the homeland security industry, particularly businesses focused on CBRNE incident response. In August 2011, the Company sold its Nexus Technologies Group. In October 2011, the Company sold its Safety and Ecology Holding Corporation subsidiary to Perma-Fix Environmental Services, Inc. In May 2012, the Company announced the acquisition by its subsidiary Timios, Inc. of Glenn County Title Company. In June 2013, Timios National Corp announced that it has completed the purchase of Glenn County Title Company (GCTC). In September 2013, Timios National Corp announced that it had executed a purchase agreement for the assets of Adobe Title, LLC.

The Company offers a range of management and operational services to each of its subsidiaries through a team of dedicated professionals. Its subsidiaries compensate its holding company for such services. Its core services include environmental remediation and restoration, regulatory compliance, facilities management, facility deactivation, decommissioning and demolition, emergency response, design and construction services and security integration to the United States government agencies, such as the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United states Army Corps of Engineers and the National Aeronautics and Space ! Administration (NASA). It conducts its operations through Safety & Ecology Holdings Corporation (Safety), its wholly owned subsidiary; Nexus Technologies Group, Inc. (Nexus), its 93% owned subsidiary, and Polimatrix, Inc. (PMX), its joint venture. Safety is an international provider of environmental, nuclear and radiological infrastructure remediation, disaster relief solutions and advanced construction services. Nexus designs, develops and installs integrated security systems for government and commercial clients. PMX markets, sells and distributes radiological detection equipment.

Safety & Ecology Holdings Corporation

Safety is a provider of global environmental, hazardous and radiological infrastructure remediation, upgrades and nuclear services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Safety�� main business areas and service offerings include decommissioning and remediation environmental and remedial consultancy services; environmental and consultancy services; nuclear energy design, build, refurbishment and operational support services, and instrumentation and measurement technologies. Safety offers a range of services that include characterization, decontamination, decommissioning of facilities, soil and groundwater remediation, infrastructure reduction and demolition, site preparation, excavation, and remedial system construction; underground and overhead utility installation; electrical and mechanical installation; security fencing and device installation and upgrades; building renovation; piping; roadways, parking lots, and drainage system construction/repair, and landfill remediation and capping.

Safety engages in facility deactivation, demolition and closure solutions, including project investigation; radiological pre-engineering; demolition planning; removing above ground structures and structural components; storing, testing, certifying, processing and shipping nuclear waste, and abatement of hazardous materials. Safety focuses its service offe! ring on t! he application and integration of health physics, industrial hygiene, hazardous material consultancy and safety and health. In addition, Safety couples its technology with its instrumentation offering, on-site radiological laboratory capabilities and mobile radiological materials license to provide radiological services and consultation. Safety provides integrated services to the nuclear energy industry. Safety provides specialized services to a customer base, including government agencies, commercial customers and major engineering and construction companies around the world that are focused in the nuclear new plant deployment initiative, facility operation, decommissioning and refurbishment. The elements of Safety�� technology offering are instrumentation services and instrumentation technology, both of which are targeted to field investigations, characterizations of contaminants and clean-up and material management and disposal solutions.

The Company competes with Stoller, Cabrera, Portage, LATA Northwind, Demco, Eagle, Pro2Serv, PMTech, Navarro, Energy Solutions, the Washington Group, Tetra Tech, Shaw Environmental and C2HM Hill.

Nexus Technologies Group, Inc.

Nexus is a mid-Atlantic security integrator for the corporate and governmental security markets that specializes in the engineering and installation of custom designed integrated electronic security solutions, including access control, alarm, closed circuit television (CCTV), video, communication, perimeter protection and bomb and metal detection security systems. Nexus provides solutions to protect people, property and assets. As a systems integrator, Nexus designs, customizes, installs, integrates and maintains closed CCTV, access control, video and communication systems for its customers. Nexus has undertaken projects in a range of markets, including financial services, corporate and commercial, healthcare, government, nuclear utility services, public transportation, airports, industrial complexes,! museums,! prisons, higher education and data centers. As a provider of custom engineered integrated security solutions, including access control, alarm/intrusion, CCTV, communication, perimeter protection and bomb and metal detection security systems, Nexus is aligned with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Nexus has focused on five sectors in which it intends to expand, both vertically and horizontally. These sectors are Financial Institutions, Infrastructure Security, Government Facilities, Education Facilities and Corporate Markets.

Financial Institutions include banks, brokerage facilities, trading facilities and foreign currency exchange centers. Infrastructure Security include nuclear power generating facilities, water processing facilities, electricity generating facilities, power transfer stations and transportation centers, which include highway, bridge, tunnel, airport, rail and port security. Government Facilities include federal, state and local government buildings and offices, domestic and foreign embassies, military installations and police and fire department operations centers. Education Facilities include grammar, high school and college buildings, dorms and campuses, satellite learning centers and daycare centers. Corporate Markets include office buildings and grounds, parking lots, garages, retail locations, warehouses and apartment and condominium complexes.

The Company competes with Henry Brothers Electronics, Inc., Diebold, Inc. and ADT.

POLIMATRIX, INC.

PMX is a total solutions provider delivering radiation and nuclear protection and detection services through several engineered portable and stationary devices. PMX�� business plan is the development and marketing of radiological detection products and services. PMX has developed a range of domestic and international marketing initiative in Washington, DC, Virginia and Illinois. These states have used the PMX detection devices for a range of detection, prevention and first respon! der activ! ities. PMX�� product line of portable detection devices are designed to detect potential threats and can be positioned along transportation routes or carried by nuclear power generating facility security personnel. It operates PMX with the assistance of Safety�� personal.

The Company competes with Thermo Scientific and Canberra.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap stocks Timios National Corp (OTCMKTS: HOMS) and Lattice Inc (OTCMKTS: LTTC) surged 54.29% and 20.83%, respectively, while Unique Pizza & Subs Corp (OTCMKTS: UPZS) sank 27.27% last Friday. But today is a new trading week with the last two trading days for the year. So what will these three small caps do today, tomorrow and after New Years�� Here is a closer look:

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Groupe Steria SCA (RIA)

Groupe Steria SCA is a France-based holding company engaged in the provision of end-to-end information technology (IT) services. The Company�� business is divided into four segments: Systems Integration, offering design and development of system; Application Management, providing maintenance and supervision of the stages in the life cycle of software applications; Management of IT Infrastructure, providing technical and business assistance, supervision of systems and network infrastructures, administration and operation of systems and network infrastructures, and hosting infrastructures in data centers; and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), providing taking over the operation of part or all of business function on behalf of the customer. The Company is operational mainly in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other European countries. The Company has subsidiaries in France, Morocco, the United Kingdom, India, Germany, Austria and Poland, among others. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By victorselva]

    The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) is a savings and loan holding company. The company is engaged, through its subsidiaries, in securities brokerage, banking, money management, and financial advisory services. Its subsidiaries include Charles Schwab & Co. (a leading discount broker-dealer), Charles Schwab Investment Management (a mutual fund investment advisor) and Charles Schwab Bank.In this article, let's take a look at this brokerage firm and try to explain to investors the reasons this is an apparently appealing investment opportunity.The FocusThe company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments: Investor Services and Institutional Services. The Investor Services segment provides retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors. The Institutional Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services to independent investment advisors. The Institutional Services segment also provides retirement plan services, specialty brokerage services, and mutual fund clearing services. The company seeks to meet the financial services needs of investors, advisers and employers. It focuses on building client loyalty with the goal of attracting new clients and serving them. Additionally, Schwab麓s strengths through shared core processes and technology advances which help create services that are scalable and consistent with the business.Interest Rates, Capital Structure and Debt-to-Capital RatioThe results are dependent on short-term interest rates, as 37% of its top line came from net interest income in the first quarter of 2014.The broker has been making significant efforts to become less dependent on interest rates, which we expect Federal Reserve will raise them in late 2014 or 2015. Also, the company麓s plan is to reach a low-cost capital structure and targets a long-term debt-to-total financial capital ratio of less than 30%.Lucrative Derivatives Trading In 2011, the company acquired Compl

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Unilever PLC(UL)

Unilever PLC operates as a fast-moving consumer goods company in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. It offers personal care products, including skin care and hair care products, deodorants, and oral care products under the brand names of Axe, Brylcreem, Dove, Fissan, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond's, Radox, Rexona, Signal & Close Up, Simple, St Ives, Sunsilk, TRESemm� Vaseline, and VO5. The company also provides home care products comprising laundry tablets, powders and liquids, soap bars, and a range of cleaning products under the Cif, Comfort, Domestos, Omo, Radiant, Sunlight, and Surf brand names. In addition, it offers food products consisting of soups, bouillons, sauces, snacks, mayonnaise, salad dressings, margarines and spreads, as well as cooking products, such as liquid margarines. The company markets its food products under the brand names of Becel/Flora, Bertolli, Blue Band, Rama, Hellmann?s, Amora, and Knorr. Further, it provides refreshment products, which includ e ice cream, tea-based beverages, weight-management products, and nutritionally enhanced staples under the brand names of Heartbrand, Lipton, and Slim Fast. Unilever sells its products through its own sales force, as well as through independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, co-operative and independent grocery accounts, food service distributors, and institutions. The company, formerly known as Lever Brothers Limited, was founded in 1885 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Unilever PLC is a subsidiary of The Unilever Group.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jon Wallis]

    A stereotypical blue chip
    Unilever� (LSE: ULVR  ) (NYSE: UL  ) is a stereotypical blue-chip company -- it has an international reputation for quality and reliability, and has proved its ability to operate profitably, despite the vicissitudes of the stock market, to deliver rewards to its shareholders over the long term.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Shares of Procter & Gamble have dropped 3.2% during the past 12 months, lagging Unilever’s (UL) 2.5% rise, Colgate-Palmolive’s (CL) 8.7% advance and Kimberly-Clark’s (KMB) 3.1% gain.

  • [By Mark Rogers]

    Today, I'm weighing up one of the London market's most renowned "high-quality" companies,�Unilever� (LSE: ULVR  ) (NYSE: UL  ) , and asking whether the recent market sell-off provides investors with a chance to buy in.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Ultratech Inc.(UTEK)

Ultratech, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets photolithography and laser thermal processing equipment. It supplies step-and-repeat photolithography systems based on one-to-one imaging technology to semiconductor device manufacturers for applications involving line geometries of 0.75 microns or greater and to nanotechnology manufacturers. The company?s steppers are also used to manufacture semiconductors that are used in various applications, such as telecommunications, automotive control systems, power systems, and consumer electronics. It also supplies 1X photolithography systems to thin film head manufacturers; and offers LSA100, a laser-based thermal annealing tool used by the semiconductor industry for various process steps, including activation of implanted impurities, dielectric film formation, formation of silicides, and stabilization of copper grain structures. Ultratech, Inc. sells its systems to semiconductor, advanced packaging, high-brightness light emit ting diodes, thin film head, and various other nanotechnology manufacturers in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

    Fellow Seeking Alpha contributor Ashraf Eassa and I have both written previously about Ultratech (UTEK), a semiconductor equipment company that we both like for its innovative positions in laser spike annealing (LSA) and advanced packaging lithography ("flip chips"), as well as the potential of its steppers in LED manufacturing. In particular, we have both made the case that advanced annealing technologies are likely to be a critical factor in the move to sub-20nm processes.

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Endocyte Inc.(ECYT)

Endocyte, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, develops targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. The company uses its proprietary technology to create novel small molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) and companion imaging diagnostics. Its SMDCs target receptors that are over-expressed on diseased cells, relative to healthy cells. The company?s principal SMDC product candidate, EC145, has been evaluated in a randomized Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, and it also completed a Phase II single-arm clinical trial for pre-treated non-small cell lung cancer. Its preclinical development products include EC0489 and EC0225, which are in Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid cancer tumors; EC17 that has completed Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid cancer tumors; EC0531, a tubulysin conjugate to treat solid tumors; and EC0746 and EC0565 foliate receptors for the reduction o f inflammation. The company?s products under development also comprise EC20, a proprietary companion imaging diagnostic product for the identification of folate receptor in cancer patients; EC1069 for prostate cancer therapy; and EC0652 that is in early clinical trials for use as a companion imaging diagnostic for SMDCs. Endocyte, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]

     

    Endocyte (ECYT), a biopharmaceutical company, develops targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases in the U.S. This stock closed up 2.2% to $6.45 a share in Thursday's trading session.

     

    Thursday's Range: $6.14-$6.48

    52-Week Range: $6.01-$33.70

    Thursday's Volume: 893,000

    Three-Month Average Volume: 1.91 million

     

    From a technical perspective, ECYT jumped higher here right above its recent 52-week low of $6.01 with lighter-than-average volume. This move higher on Thursday is starting to push shares of ECYT within range of triggering a major breakout trade. That trade will hit if ECYT manages to clear some near-term overhead resistance levels at $6.82 to $7.30 with high volume.

     

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ECYT as long as it's trending above its 52-week low of $6.01 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 1.91 million shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ECYT will set up to re-fill some of its previous gap-down-day zone from earlier this month that started above $17.50.

     

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: Liberty Coal Energy Corp (LBTG)

Liberty Coal Energy Corp, incorporated on August 31, 2007, is an exploration-stage company. The Company is a precious metal mineral exploration, development and production company. The primary business focus of the Company is to acquire, explore and develop coal properties in North America. On February 1, 2012, the Company entered into a letter of intent for the acquisition of private mineral leasehold rights to certain coal mining property in Owsley County, Kentucky with AMS Development LLC. and Colt Resources, Inc.

The Owsley property covers approximately 1,000 acres and has 3,600,000 tons of coal recoverable by surface and high wall (auger) methods. As of September 31, 2011, the Company had not earned any revenues.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    On Friday, small cap mining stocks Maverick Minerals Corp (OTCMKTS: MVRM) and Liberty Coal Energy Corp (OTCMKTS: LBTG) plus oil stock Gray Fox Petroleum Corp (OTCBB: GFOX) sank 30.9%, 16.67% and 11.2%, respectively. However, only one of these stocks appears to have been the subject of some kind of paid promotion in the form of an investment in some shares. So will these three small cap mining or oil stocks keep coming up empty for investors this week? Here is a closer look:

Top 10 Japanese Stocks To Buy Right Now: GSV Capital Corp (GSVC)

GSV Capital Corp. (GSV Capital), formerly NeXt Innovation Corp., is a development-stage company. The Company is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company. The Company�� investment objective is to maximize capital appreciation. The Company will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in privately held high growth venture backed companies and select mid cap and large cap publicly traded companies.

The Company may also invest in select publicly-traded equity securities of companies that otherwise meet its investment criteria. It seeks to acquire its investments primarily through private secondary market transactions and, to a lesser extent, through transactions executed on public securities exchanges and direct investments in its portfolio companies. The Company�� investment activities will be managed by GSV Asset Management. GSV Capital Service Company will provide the administrative services.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Helix Investment Research]

    Keating Capital is far from the only publicly traded pre-IPO investment company. There are several others, including GSV Capital (GSVC) and Firsthand Technology Value Fund (SVVC). Hercules Technology Growth Capital (HTGC) is also a pre-IPO fund, but with the bulk of its assets (over 92%) invested into loans to and debt of private companies, as opposed to their equity, the company's investment philosophy is different than that of these other pre-IPO funds. Unlike GSV Capital and Firsthand, Keating Capital, as a matter of policy, always purchases equity directly from portfolio companies, never from secondary markets such as SharesPost or SecondMarket. Mr. Keating outlined that this is due to the company's requirement that it be given access to all relevant financial data and managerial projections of its portfolio companies at all times, something that Mr. Keating believes is essential to being able to make informed investor decisions. We note that shares of Facebook (FB) and Twitter are conspicuously absent from Keating Capital's portfolio; the company declined to purchase shares of either company due to an inability to acquire direct financial information regarding these companies. In addition, Keating Capital has a stated goal of investing in the most senior equity securities available at each portfolio company.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Chegg, Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) was the IPO disappointment of the week. Sure it has a lot of competition, but IPOs are supposed to be on fire now. Chegg managed to gain almost 3% on Friday to close at $9.13, but one must remember that the IPO price at $12.50 never saw the $12.50 open. The stock opened at $9.80 and closed at $8.88 on the first day, a move which will baffle IPO investors of growth companies who are buying an IPO at a time when major indexes are hitting new all-time highs. By the way, GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC) was a runner-up�loser along with Chegg, as this fund owned shares of Twitter and Chegg pre-IPO. The stock price was above $16 before the Twitter IPO and is now down to $12.03 after another 8.8% drop on Friday. Bye-bye.

  • [By Hibah Yousuf]

    Shares of GSV Capital (GSVC), a publicly traded fund that invests in "high growth" private companies, rallied almost 13% Friday. GSV said it holds 1.9 million shares of Twitter as of June 30. Twitter is the fund's biggest holding, at 15% of the total portfolio.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    A third angle to consider is the business development company GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC). This is public and it owns a slug of Twitter shares. Its recent peak was $16.90 and the shares were recently down at $15.60. This stock rose into the Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) IPO as well, only to roll over as Facebook’s shares did. The portfolio update from GSV on October 3 showed the following: Twitter, Inc. was shown to have a fair value of GSV Capital investment of $37.6 million, or about 15.1% of net assets at the time. If the IPO price has risen, so has that value. Another hot upcoming IPO of Chegg, Inc. was shown to have a fair value of GSV investment of $14.0 million, worth some 5.6% of net assets. Be advised that this stock has doubled since mid-summer, and shares fell rapidly from $18 down to $10 after the Facebook IPO.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Invest In 2015

Top 10 Supermarket Companies To Invest In 2015: SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (SDT)

SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (The Trust) is a statutory trust. The Trust was created to acquire and hold the Royalty Interests for the benefit of Trust unitholders. SandRidge conveyed to the Trust the Royalty Interests in specified oil and natural gas properties in the Mississippian formation in Alfalfa, Garfield, Grant, Major and Woods counties in Oklahoma (the Underlying Properties). These Royalty Interests were derived from SandRidges interests in a 36 wells and the equivalent of 123 horizontal development wells to be drilled in the Mississippian formation (Trust Development Wells) within an area of mutual interest (AMI), consisting of approximately 49,600 gross acres (42,000 net acres) in the counties where the Underlying Properties are located.

Effective January 1, 2011, the Royalty Interests entitle the Trust to receive 90% of the proceeds from the sale of oil and natural gas production attributable to its net revenue interest in the Initial Wells and 50% of the proceeds from the sale of oil and natural gas production attributable to SandRidges net revenue interest in the Trust Development Wells. As of December 31, 2011, the Trusts properties consisted of Royalty Interests in the Initial Wells, 48 wells (equivalent to approximately 53 Trust Development Wells under the development agreement) and the equivalent of approximately 70 Trust Development Wells to be drilled in the Mississippian formation.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and Trust II (NYSE: SDR  )
    These trusts were created by SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD  ) , with the first Mississippian Trust formed in 2010 and the second formed one year later. Both trusts own royalty interests in oil and gas properties targeting the Mississippian formation and have future upside as SandRidge drills wells as part of the area! s of mutual interest.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    SandRidge has made a huge bet on the Mississippian Lime shale play, especially after selling off its Permian Basin assets late last year. Unfortunately, that bet hasn't paid off well for shareholders, as the company saw its spun-off royalty trusts SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR  ) fail to meet their projections for distribution amounts during the first quarter. The main problem has been that wells in the Mississippian Lime have produced more natural gas than expected, and even with a slight rebound in gas prices, it still doesn't produce adequate margins compared to oil and natural-gas liquids.

  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    The problem here is that SandRidge has beendependenton asset sales and its running out of assets to sell. In addition to the Permian sale, SandRidge has now taken three royalty trusts public. One consisting of Permian Basin assets, SandRidge Permian Trust (NYSE: PER  ) and two consisting of Mississippian assets, SandRidge Mississippian Trust I (NYSE: SDT  ) and SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR  ) . While SandRidge still owns a portion of each trust, it likely will continue to sell off its ownership stake in each trust as well as other assets it still owns. At some point SandRidge will need to live within its oil and gas cash flows, otherwise, its not worth owning.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-supermarket-companies-to-invest-in-2015.html

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015

Year-to-date, shares of the aluminum giant Alcoa (NYSE: AA  ) are down 8.06% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) has risen 12.94%. Alcoa is currently the worst-performing Dow component and one of two stocks to have fallen into negative territory for the year. The other is Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) , the construction and mining equipment company.

So why are these two components lower for the year while the Dow and its 28 other stocks have all risen? Well, there are a few reasons.

The first is China. Both Caterpillar and Alcoa rely on China for a large portion of their revenue, and we've seen over the past few years the country's GDP slowing from the mid-teens to its current 7.5%. This slowdown has come as construction projects and development deals where both Caterpillar's machines would be working and Alcoa's aluminum would be used have dramatically tapered off. In China, we've also seen massive stockpiles of aluminum building up as these construction projects slow down, and the large amount of inventory has had a very negative impact on the price of the metal.

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: Wolseley PLC (WOS)

Wolseley plc is a specialist trade distributor of plumbing and heating products to professional contractors and a supplier of building materials in North America, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. The Company operates in seven segments: USA, UK, Canada, Nordic, France, Central and Eastern Europe, and Group. On September 1 2009, the Company acquired Decorative Product Source, Inc, a company engaged in the distribution and supply of construction materials and services. On January 8, 2010, the Company disposed of 100% of Wolseley Ireland Holdings Limited, which comprised all the Company's businesses in the Republic of Ireland and the Brooks business in Northern Ireland. In November 2011, the Company announced that it had completed the sale of its remaining interest in Stock Building Supply to The Gores Group. In April 2012, the Company sold its Brossette, the French Plumbing and Heating business to Saint Gobain. In October 2012, the Company acquired Davis & Warshow, Inc. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    Wolseley Plc (WOS) added 3.1 percent to 3,296 pence, its largest gain in more than five weeks. The world�� biggest distributor of plumbing and heating products said so-called trading profit in the 12 months through July climbed to 725 million pounds ($1.2 billion) from 665 million pounds a year earlier. Analysts had predicted earnings of 704 million pounds, according to the average of 20 estimates compiled by the company. Wolseley proposed a special dividend payout of 300 million pounds.

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: Badger Daylighting Ltd (BAD)

Badger Daylighting Ltd. and its subsidiaries (Badger) provide non-destructive excavating services to the utility, transportation, industrial, engineering, construction and petroleum industries in Canada and the United States. Its key technology is the Badger Hydrovac excavator, which is used primarily for digging trenches in congested grounds. The Company�� excavation services include daylighting and potholing, slot trenching, debris removal and cleanups, maintenance and installation service pits, poles and piling holes and trench shoring/shoring. Badger slot trenching provides a non-destructive method of digging trenches for water lines, wiring and pipeline installations or excavations. Its applications include pipeline tie-ins, investigative slot trenching, installation slot trenching, drain tile trenching and line fault repairs. In November 2013, the Company acquired the business and operating assets of Fieldtek Holdings Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Kim Hjelmgaard]

    There have been some good (read: bad) predictions over the years.

    Before the 2013 forum, DealBook's Andrew Ross Sorkin recalled that in 2003 the serial Davos attendee, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, said of Google: "These Google guys (co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin), they want to be billionaires and rock stars and go to conferences and all that. Let us see if they still want to run the business in two to three years."

Top Medical Stocks To Own Right Now: Stanley Black & Decker Inc.(SWK)

Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. manufactures tools and engineered security solutions worldwide. The company?s Security segment provides a range of mechanical and electronic security products and systems, as well as various security services consisting of security integration systems, software, and related installation, maintenance, monitoring services; automatic doors, door closers, and exit devices; healthcare storage and supply chain solutions; patient protection products; hardware; and locking mechanisms. This segment sells its products to retailers; educational, financial, and healthcare institutions; and commercial, governmental, and industrial customers through direct sales forces and third party distributors. Its Industrial segment offers mechanics tools and storage systems, including wrenches, sockets, electronic diagnostic tools, tool boxes, and industrial storage and retrieval systems; engineered healthcare storage and retrieval systems; hydraulic tools and accessor ies; plumbing, heating, and air conditioning tools; assembly tools and systems; and specialty tools. This segment sells its products to industrial customers through third party distributors and direct sales forces. The company?s Construction & Do-It-Yourself segment manufactures hand tools, including measuring and leveling tools, planes, hammers, demolition tools, knives and blades, saws, chisels, and consumer tackers; consumer mechanics tools; storage units comprising plastic and metal tool boxes; and pneumatic tools and fasteners for use in construction, remodeling, furniture making, pallet and manufacturing applications. This segment sells its products to professional end users and consumers through retailers, including home centers, mass merchants, hardware stores, and retail lumber yards. The company was formerly known as The Stanley Works and changed its name to Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. in March 2010. Stanley Black & Decker was founded in 1843 and is based in New B ritain, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Laura Brodbeck]

    Wednesday

    Earnings Expected From: Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK), Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. (NYSE: SWK), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC), Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP), American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Economic Releases Expected: US Beige Book, Canadian manufacturing sales, US CPI

    Thursday

  • [By Louis Navellier]

    Stanley Black and Decker�� (SWK) shares have had a nice year and have been red hot in the last quarter. The stock has jumped ahead by about 18% in the last three months, bringing the year to date return up to 22%. However, earnings this year are down compared to 2012, and consumer spending is losing steam at the same time the housing recovery is stalling. The stock was downgraded to a “D” ranking in Portfolio Grader this week and will remain a “sell” until fundamentals improve to match the story.

  • [By Motley Fool Staff]

    Power tools for the handy pop
    As much as I'd love to fill my closet with another dated paisley print tie off the discount rack, what I'd really like are some new tools in the shed and shares of�Stanley Black & Decker� (NYSE: SWK  ) in my portfolio.�

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: 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 Sean Williams]

    Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI  )
    In spite of the steady rebound in the construction industry, certain companies look predisposed to underperform. Take Texas Industries as a perfect example. It provides heavy construction aggregates to the commercial construction industry while also acting a cement supplier to the consumer segment. Although its orders, and even to some remote extent its pricing power for cement, has improved modestly as the housing sector has rebounded, Texas Industries is still turning only marginal profits. In fact, looking toward next year you'd see a forward P/E approaching 500!

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) was down, falling 4.36 percent to $65.78 after Longbow Research downgraded the stock from buy to neutral.

    Commodities
    In commodity news, oil traded down 1.37 percent to $97.07, while gold traded up 1.73 percent to $1,223.10. Silver traded up 3.69 percent Thursday to $20.09, while copper fell 0.34 percent to $3.39.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Analysts expect Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) to post its Q1 earnings at $0.01 per share on revenue of $233.63 million. Texas Industries shares gained 1.82% to close at $67.52 yesterday.

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: Amcol International Corp (ACO)

AMCOL International Corporation (AMCOL), incorporated on December 3, 1959, is focused on the development and application of minerals and technology products and services to various industrial and consumer markets. It operates in five segments: performance materials, construction technologies, energy services, transportation and corporate. Its performance materials segment previously referred to as its minerals and materials segment is a supplier of bentonite related products. Its construction technologies segment previously referred to as its environmental segment provides products for non-residential construction, environmental and infrastructure projects worldwide. Its energy services segment previously referred to as its oilfield services segment offers a range of patented technologies, products and services for both upstream and downstream oil and gas production. Its transportation segment serves domestic subsidiaries, as well as third parties, is a dry van and flatbed carrier and freight brokerage service provider.

Performance Materials Segment

The Company supplies chromite and leonardite, and operates more than 25 mining or production facilities worldwide. It mines chromite, an iron chromium oxide, from open cast mines in South Africa and transport it to our nearby processing facility. Its primary uses include metalcasting, drilling fluid additive, and agricultural applications. Its performance materials segment conducts its business through wholly owned subsidiaries and investments in affiliates and joint ventures throughout the world. It consists of four product lines: metalcasting; specialty materials; basic minerals, and pet products. Its principal products are marketed under various registered trade names, including VOLCLAY, PANTHER CREEK, PREMIUM GEL, ADDITROL, ENERSOL, and Hevi-Sand.

The Company�� metalcasting products include blended mineral binders containing sodium and calcium bentonite and organic additives sold under the trade name ADDITROL. I! n the ferrous casting market, the Company specializes in blending bentonite of various grades by themselves or with mineral binders containing sodium bentonite, calcium bentonite, seacoal and other ingredients. It also has a line of formulated additives that introduce silicon and carbon in the melt phase of the casting process. In the steel alloy casting market, it sells a chromite product with a particle size distribution specific to a customer�� needs.

The Company�� specialty materials products contain bentonite and synthetic additives offering solutions for consumer and industrial applications. It also offers products for bio-agricultural applications. The markets and applications of its specialty materials products include fabric care, personal care, basic materials and pet products. It supply high-grade, agglomerated bentonite and other mineral additives used in fabric care products. It manufactures adsorbent polymers and purified grades of bentonite for sale to manufacturers of personal skin care products. The adsorbent polymers are used to deliver high-value actives in skin-care products. Microsponge and Poly-Pore are the principal trade names under which these products are sold. Its basic minerals product line supplies minerals to a variety of markets and industrial applications, including drilling fluid additives, ferro alloys and other industrial.

The Company�� pet products include sodium bentonite-based scoopable (clumping), traditional and alternative cat litters, as well as specialty pet products sold to grocery and drug stores, mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs and pet specialty stores throughout the United States. It is primarily a private-label producer of cat litter, and its products are marketed under various trade names. These products are sold solely in the United States from three principal sites from which it package and distribute finished goods. Its transportation segment provides logistics services and is a component of its capability in supplyi! ng custom! ers on a national basis.

Construction Technologies Segment

The Company�� construction technologies segment serves customers engaged in a range of construction projects, including site remediation, concrete waterproofing for underground structures, liquid containment on projects ranging from landfills to flood control, and drilling applications including foundation, slurry wall, tunneling, water well and horizontal drilling. Its construction technologies segment conducts its business through wholly owned subsidiaries and joint ventures throughout the world. This segment consists of four product lines: building materials; contracting services; drilling products, and lining technologies.

The Company sells lining and other products for a variety of applications, most of which are directed to preserving or remediating environmental issues. It helps customers protect ground water and soil through the sale of geosynthetic clay liner products containing bentonite. It market these products under the BENTOMAT and CLAYMAX trade names principally for lining and capping landfills, mine waste disposal sites, water and wastewater lagoons, secondary containments in tank farms, and other contaminated sites. It also provides associated geosynthetic materials for these applications, including geotextiles and drainage geocomposites.

The Company�� lining technologies product line also includes specialized technologies to mitigate vapor intrusion in new building construction. It also provides reactive capping technologies and solutions to contain residual contamination, reduce costs associated with ex-situ remedies, and aid in environmental protection. Products offered include Liquid Boot, a liquid applied vapor barrier system; REACTIVE CORE-MAT, an in-situ sediment capping material; ORGANOCLAY, which absorbs organic containments, and QUIK-SOLID, a super absorbent media.

The Company offer a variety of active and passive waterproofing and greenroof technolog! ies for u! se in protecting the building envelope of non-residential constructions, including buildings, subways, and parkway systems. Its products include VOLTEX, a waterproofing composite comprised of two polypropylene geotextiles filled with sodium bentonite; ULTRASEAL, an advanced membrane using a active polymer core, and COREFLEX, featuring heat-welded seams for protection of critical infrastructure. In addition to these membrane materials, it also provides roofing products and a variety of sealants and other accessories required to create a functional waterproofing system.

The Company drilling products are used in environmental and geotechnical drilling applications, horizontal directional drilling, mineral exploration and foundation construction. The products are used to install monitoring wells, facilitate horizontal and water well drilling, and seal abandoned exploration drill holes. VOLCLAY GROUT, HYDRAUL-EZ, BENTOGROUT and VOLCLAY TABLETS are among the trade names for products used in these applications. It also offer a range of drilling products used in the excavation of foundations for large buildings, bridges and dams; these products include SHORE PAC and PREMIUM GEL. Contracting services, which involve installation of products, are occasionally offered to customers for select projects.

Energy Services Segment

The Company�� energy services segment provides services to improve the production, costs, compliance, and environmental impact of activities performed in the oil and gas industry. Operating as CETCO Energy Services, it offer a range of patented technologies, products and services for all phases of oil and gas production, transportation, refining, and storage throughout the world. It provide both land-based and offshore water treatment, well testing, pipeline separation, nitrogen, coil tubing and other services to the oil and gas industry. The Company provides its services through subsidiaries located in Australia, Brazil, Malaysia, Nigeria, the United Ki! ngdom, an! d the United States, principally in the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding on-shore area. Its principal services include water treatment, coil tubing, well testing, nitrogen services and pipeline. The Company helps customers comply with regulatory requirements by providing equipment, technologies, personnel and filtration media to treat waste water generated during oil production.

The Company's coil tubing services utilize metal piping, which comes spooled on a large reel. It provide both equipment and operating personnel to perform services ranging from acid stimulation, reverse circulation, cementing, pressure control, nitrogen injection, and other operations that involve pumping fluids into a well. Horizontal wells and shale completions are a large component of its operations. It provide equipment and personnel to help customers control well production, as well as to clean up, unload, separate, measure component flow, and dispose of fluids from oil and gas wells. Nitrogen services are provided in jetting wells that are loaded with fluid; stimulating wells, including fracturizing and acidizing; displacing completion fluids prior to perforating; inflating flotation devices for offshore installations, and pressure testing and other maintenance activities.

Transportation Segment

The Company operates a long-haul trucking business through Ameri-Co Carriers, Inc., and a freight brokerage business through Ameri-Co Logistics, Inc. primarily for delivery of finished products throughout the continental United States. These services are provided to its subsidiaries, as well as third-party customers.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    In trading on Friday, Basic Materials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by 0.78 percent. Top gainer in the sector was AMCOL International (NYSE: ACO), up 9 percent.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    AMCOL International (NYSE: ACO  ) is expected to report Q2 earnings on July 26. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

    The 10-second takeaway
    Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict AMCOL International's revenues will grow 1.6% and EPS will wither -16.9%.

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CBI)

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (CB&I) is one of the integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services providers and process technology licensors, delivering solutions to customers primarily in the energy, petrochemical and natural resource industries. CB&I consist of three business sectors: Steel Plate Structures, Project Engineering and Construction, and Lummus Technology. Through these business sectors, the Company offers services both independently and on an integrated basis.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had more than 900 projects in process in more than 70 countries. On February 13, 2013, it acquired The Shaw Group Inc. (Shaw).

Steel Plate Structures

Steel Plate Structures provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services, including mechanical erection services, for the hydrocarbon, water and nuclear industries. Projects include above ground storage tanks, elevated storage tanks, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanks, pressure vessels, and other specialty structures, such as nuclear containment vessels. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as ADNOC (Abu Dhabi), CNOOC (China) and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia); and regional energy companies, such as Kinder Morgan (United States) and Suncor (Canada).

Project Engineering and Construction

Project Engineering and Construction provides engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction services for upstream and downstream energy infrastructure facilities. Projects include LNG liquefaction and regasification terminals, gas processing plants, refinery units, petrochemical complexes and a wide range of other energy-related projects. Customers include international energy companies, such as British Petroleum, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell; national energy companies, such as Ecopetrol (Colombia) and ORPIC (Oman); and regio! nal energy companies, such as Dominion (United States), Gazprom (Russia), Nexen (United Kingdom), and Woodside (Australia).

Lummus Technology

Lummus Technology provides licenses, services, catalysts and equipment for the hydrocarbon refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. Customers include international energy companies, such as Chevron and Shell; national energy companies, such as Pemex (Mexico), Petrochina (China), Rosneft (Russia) and Sabic (Saudi Arabia); and regional refiners and chemical and gas processing companies, such as China Coal (China), IRPC (Thailand), Kazakhstan Petrochemical (Kazakhstan), and Williams Energy Services (United States).

Power provides a range of services, including design, EPC, technology and consulting services, primarily to the fossil and nuclear power generation industries. Plant Services provides electric power refueling outage maintenance, turnaround maintenance, routine maintenance, offshore maintenance, modifications, capital construction, off-site modularization, fabrication, reliability engineering, plant engineering, plant support and specialty services. Additionally, it provides services to restore, rebuild, repair, renovate and modify industrial and electric power generation facilities, and offers predictive and preventive maintenance services. Environmental & Infrastructure (E&I) provides full-scale environmental and infrastructure services for government and private-sector clients. These services include program and project management, design-build, engineering and construction, sustainability and energy efficiency, remediation and restoration, science and technology, facilities management and emergency response and disaster recovery. Fabrication and Manufacturing is a worldwide supplier of fabricated piping systems primarily to the electric power, petrochemical and refinery industries, supporting both external clients and other Shaw business sectors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Winning a big contract is usually good news for a company like Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), and today was no exception, as the engineering company won contract to build a liquefied natural gas facility.

    Bloomberg News

    The New Orleans Times-Picayune has the details:

    Netherlands-based energy infrastructure company Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) and Chiyoda International Corp., a Japan-based contractor that designs and constructs LNC plants, announced that they were contracted by Cameron LNC, LLC to construct the Cameron Liquefaction Project in Hackberry, La…

    The $6 billion contract will include procurement, engineering and construction of natural gas liquefaction and export facilities that will be added to the existing LNC regasification facility. It’s expected to create about 3,000 on-site jobs including several hundred jobs at CB&I’s fabrication facilities in Louisiana. Additionally, officials expect several hundred engineering and project management jobs at its Baton Rouge office that will support design, fabrication and construction of the new facilities.

    Deutsche Bank’s Vishal Shah and team consider the impact on Chicago Bridge & Iron, as well as Fluor (FLR), who had a competing bid:

    While the award of Cameron LNG is clearly a positive for [Chicago Bridge & Iron], we believe this project could provide upside of $1.6B to our current new award estimate of $13.6B for 2014. Additionally, this project win further supports�[Chicago Bridge & Iron] as a leader in [liquefied natural gas] projects. The company is currently in the running for Golden Pass LNG ($10B), Anadarko Mozambique LNG ($15B, competing against FLR) and Russia Far East LNG ($15B), all of which will likely be awarded in 2015. As for [Fluor], our probability-weighted new award estimate for Cameron was $1.4B, which suggests that 2014 new awards could be $24.6B, vs. our current estimate of $26.0B.

    Shares

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: AECOM Technology Corp (ACM)

AECOM Technology Corporation (AECOM) is a provider of professional technical and management support services for commercial and government clients around the world. The Company provides planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, and program and construction management services for a range of projects, including highways, airports, bridges, mass transit systems, government and commercial buildings, water and wastewater facilities, and power transmission and distribution. It also provides program and facilities management and maintenance, training, logistics and other support services, for agencies of the United States government. It offers services in two segments: Professional Technical Services and Management Support Services. In June 2011, the Company acquired Spectral Services Consultants Pte. Ltd.

Professional Technical Services (PTS)

The PTS segment delivers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, and program and construction management services to commercial and government clients worldwide in end markets, such as transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, water and government markets. It provides program management services through a joint venture for the Second Avenue subway line in New York City, design and contract administration services for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge's Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities and engineering and environmental management services to support global energy infrastructure development for a number of petroleum and mining companies.

PTS segment contributed 86% of the Company�� revenue during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011).

Transit and rail projects include light rail, heavy rail (including high speed, commuter and freight) and multimodal transit projects. The Company provided engineering design services for the new World Trade Center Terminal for PATH and the Second Avenue Subway (8.5-mile rail route and 16 stations) in New York City, the Ma O! n Shan Rail (seven-mile elevated railway) in Hong Kong, and Crossrail (74-mile railway) in the United Kingdom. Marine, Ports and Harbors Projects include wharf facilities and container port facilities for private and public port operators. The Company provided marine design and engineering services for container facilities in Hong Kong, the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York and New Jersey. Highways, Bridges and Tunnels Projects include interstate, primary and secondary urban and rural highway systems and bridge projects. Aviation Projects include landside terminal and airside facilities and runways as well as taxiways.

Government Projects include the Company�� emergency response services for the Department of Homeland Security, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency and engineering and program management services for agencies of the Department of Defense. It also provides architectural and engineering services for national laboratories, including the laboratories at Hanford, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico. Industrial Projects include industrial facilities for a variety of end markets, including manufacturing, distribution, aviation, aerospace, communications, media, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, chemical, and food and beverage facilities. Urban Master Planning/Design Projects include design services, landscape architecture, general policy consulting and environmental planning projects for a variety of government, institutional and private sector clients. It provides strategic planning and master planning services for new cities and mixed use developments in the People�� republic of China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Commercial and Leisure Facilities Projects include corporate headquarters, high-rise office towers, historic buildings, hotels, leisure, sports and entertainment facilities, hospitals and healthcare facilities and corporate campuses. Institutional Projects include engin! eering se! rvices for college and university campuses, including the new Kennedy-King College in Chicago, Illinois. It has also undertaken assignments for Oxford University in the United Kingdom, Pomona College and Loyola Marymount University in California. Healthcare Projects include design services for the Mayo Clinic Gonda Building in Rochester, Minnesota, University Hospital in Dubai Healthcare City and the Samsung Cancer Center in Seoul, Korea. It has also undertaken assignments for the new Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Orlando, Florida, and the Minneapolis campus of Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Correctional Projects include the planning, design, and construction of detention and correction facilities throughout the world.

Water and Wastewater Projects include treatment facilities as well as supply, distribution and collection systems, stormwater management, desalinization, and other water re-use technologies for metropolitan governments. Environmental Management Projects include remediation, waste handling, testing and monitoring of environmental conditions and environmental construction management for private sector clients. Water Resources Projects include regional-scale floodplain mapping and analysis for public agencies, along with the analysis and development of protected groundwater resources for companies in the bottled water industry.

Demand Side Management Projects include energy efficient systems for public K-12 schools and universities, health care facilities, and courthouses and other public buildings, as well as energy conservation systems for utilities. Transmission and Distribution Projects include power stations and electric transmissions and distribution and co-generation systems, including enhanced electrical power generation in Stung Treng, Cambodia. These projects utilize a range of services that include consulting, forecasting and surveying to detailed engineering design and construction management. Alternative/Renewable Energy Projects ! include p! roduction facilities, such as ethanol plants, wind farms and micro hydropower and geothermal subsections of regional power grids. It provides site selection and permitting, engineering, procurement and construction management and related services. Hydropower/Dams Projects include hydroelectric power stations, dams, spillways, and flood control systems including the Song Ba Ha Hydropower Project in Vietnam, the Pine Brook Dam in Boulder County, Colorado and the Peribonka Hydroelectric Power Plant in Quebec, Canada. Solar Projects include performing environmental work for the solar photovoltaic Brockton Brightfield project in New England, and environmental permitting services for the California Energy Commission to permit the development of a 250 mega watts (MW) solar thermal power plant in the Mojave Desert of California.

Management Support Services (MSS).

The MSS segment provides program and facilities management and maintenance, training, logistics, consulting, technical assistance and systems integration services, for agencies of the United States government. It also provides organizational and limited direct support services for equipment sent to the United States Army's Corpus Christi Depot in Texas. The MSS segment contributed 14% of the Company�� fiscal 2011 revenue.

Installation, Operations and Maintenance Projects include Department of Defense and Department of Energy installations where the Company provides services for the operation and maintenance of complex government installations, including military bases, test ranges and equipment. It also provides services for the operations and maintenance of the Department of Energy's Nevada Test Site. Logistics and Field Services Projects include logistics support services for a number of Department of Defense agencies and defense contractors focused on developing and managing integrated supply and distribution networks. Training Projects include training applications in live, virtual and simulation training! environm! ents. Systems Support Projects cover a set of operational and support systems for the maintenance, operation and modernization of Department of Defense and Department of Energy installations. Its services in this area range from information technology and communications to life cycle optimization and engineering, including environmental management services.

Technical Personnel Placement Projects include the placement of personnel in functional areas of military and other government agencies, as these entities continue to outsource critical services to commercial entities. It provides systems, processes and personnel in support of the Department of Justice's management of forfeited assets recovered by law enforcement agencies. It also supports the Department of State in its enforcement programs by recruiting, training and supporting police officers for international and homeland security missions. Field Services Projects include maintaining, modifying and overhauling ground vehicles, armored carriers and associated support equipment both within and outside of the United States under contracts with the Department of Defense. It also maintains and repairs telecommunications systems for military and civilian entities.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Aecom Technology Corp.(ACM) swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter profit despite continued weakness in the technical and management-support services provider’s Americas and Australia markets. The company forecast per-share earnings for the recently started new fiscal year that were below Street estimates.

  • [By Rich Smith]

    Continuing to laze its way through summer, the U.S. Department of Defense announced only nine mostly small new contracts Tuesday, totaling just a bit over $87 million in aggregate value. Winners today included:

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: American Woodmark Corp (AMWD)

American Woodmark Corporation, incorporated on April 21, 1980, manufactures and distributes kitchen cabinets and vanities for the remodeling and new home construction markets. The Company offers framed stock cabinets in approximately 550 different cabinet lines, ranging in price from relatively inexpensive to medium-priced styles. Styles vary by design and color from natural wood finishes to low-pressure laminate surfaces. The product offering of stock cabinets includes 86 door designs in 18 colors. Stock cabinets consist of a common box with standard interior components and a maple, oak, cherry, or hickory front frame, door and/or drawer front. The Company�� product is primarily sold under the brand names of American Woodmark, Timberlake, Shenandoah Cabinetry, Potomac, and Waypoint Living Spaces.

The Company�� product is sold on a national basis across the United States to the remodeling and new home construction markets. The Company services these markets through three primary channels, which include home centers, builders, and independent dealers and distributors. The Company provides complete installation services to its direct builder customers through its network of nine service centers that are strategically located throughout the United States. The Company distributes its products to each market channel directly from four assembly plants through a third party logistics network. The primary raw materials used include hard maple, oak, cherry, soft maple, and hickory lumber and plywood.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    After the bedroom, the kitchen is probably the place where we spend the most time awake in our homes with small cap kitchen stocks Caesarstone Sdot-Yam Ltd (NASDAQ: CSTE) and American Woodmark Corporation (NASDAQ: AMWD) along with diversified midcap Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (NYSE: FBHS) all putting in a good performance. After all, any sort of housing recovery with more new homes being sold will�help kitchen stocks and so will increased sales of older or foreclosed homes that need to have their kitchens remodeled. But which is the better kitchen stock for investors? Here is�closer look at all three:

Hot Construction Stocks To Own For 2015: Aegion Corp (AEGN)

Aegion Corporation, incorporated on August 17, 2011, is engaged in infrastructure protection, providing technologies and services to protect against the corrosion of industrial pipelines and for the rehabilitation and strengthening of sewer, water, energy and mining piping systems and buildings, bridges, tunnels and waterfront structures. The Company operates in five segments: Energy and Mining, North American Sewer and Water Rehabilitation, European Sewer and Water Rehabilitation, Asia-Pacific Sewer and Water Rehabilitation and Commercial and Structural. The Company�� business activities include manufacturing, distribution, installation, coating and insulation, cathodic protection, research and development and licensing. Its products and services are utilized and performed in more than 100 countries across six continents. The Company offers solutions for rehabilitating aging or deteriorating infrastructure and protecting new infrastructure from corrosion. In June 2013, Aegion Corporation announced that it has sold its 50% interest in Insituform Rohrsanierungstechniken GmbH (Insituform-Germany) to Per Aarsleff A/S. In July 2013, Aegion Corp announced that it has completed the acquisition of Brinderson, L.P.

In March 2012, the Company organized United Special Technical Services LLC (USTS), a joint venture located in the Sultanate of Oman between United Pipeline Systems and Special Technical Services LLC (STS), for the purpose of executing pipeline, piping and flow line high-density polyethylene lining services throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. United Pipeline Systems holds a 51% equity interest in USTS and STS holds the remaining 49% equity interest. In November 2012, the Company acquired the shares of its joint venture partner, SPML Infra Limited (SPML), an unaffiliated Indian contractor, in Insituform Pipeline Rehabilitation Private Limited (Insituform-India) in order to continue to pursue business opportunities in India involving CIPP installations and third party tube! sales, as well as to promote its other products and services. In January 2012, the Company purchased Fyfe Group�� Latin American operations (Fyfe LA), which included all of the equity interests of Fyfe Latin America S.A., a Panamanian entity (and its interest in various joint ventures located in Peru, Costa Rica, Chile and Colombia), Fyfe Latin America S.A. de C.V., an El Salvadorian entity, and Fibrwrap Construction Latin America S.A., a Panamanian entity. In April 2012, the Company purchased Fyfe Group�� Asian operations (Fyfe Asia), which included all of the equity interests of Fyfe Asia Pte. Ltd, a Singaporean entity (and its interest in two joint ventures located in Borneo and Indonesia), Fyfe (Hong Kong) Limited, Fibrwrap Construction (M) Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian entity, Fyfe Japan Co. Ltd and Fibrwrap Construction Pte. Ltd and Technologies & Art Pte. Ltd., Singaporean entities.

Energy and Mining

The Company�� energy and mining operations provide rehabilitation and corrosion protection services for industrial, mineral, oil and gas piping systems and structures. The Company also offers products for gas release and leak detection systems. Its worldwide energy and mining operations are headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri. These operations are conducted through its various subsidiaries (United Pipeline Systems based in Durango, Colorado, Bayou based in New Iberia, Louisiana, Corrpro based in Houston, Texas, CRTS based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Hockway based in the United Arab Emirates). Certain of its energy and mining operations outside of the United States are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Chile, Canada, Argentina, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates and through its joint ventures in Canada, Mexico, Oman, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

United Pipeline Systems performs pipeline rehabilitation services using its Tite Liner process. Its Bayou business performs internal and external pipeline coating, lini! ng, weigh! ting and insulation services, as well as specialty fabrication services for offshore deep water installations, including project management and logistics. Its Corrpro business performs fully-integrated corrosion prevention services including: engineering; product and material sales; construction and installation; inspection, monitoring and maintenance; andcoatings. Its CRTS business specializes in the application of internal and external corrosion coatings services and equipment for new pipeline construction projects. Its Hockway business performs cathodic protection, engineering and design, manufacturing, maintenance and installation services to the oil and gas markets.

Water and Wastewater Rehabilitation Operations

The Company�� sewer rehabilitation activities are conducted principally through installation and other construction operations performed directly by its subsidiaries. In certain geographic regions, the Company has granted licenses to unaffiliated companies. Its North American Water and Wastewater operations, including research and development, engineering, training and financial support systems, are headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri. During the year ended December 31. 2012, tube manufacturing and processing facilities for North America were maintained in eight locations, geographically dispersed throughout the United States and Canada.

The Company also conducts Insituform CIPP process rehabilitation operations worldwide through its wholly owned subsidiaries and through direct and indirect joint venture relationships. The results from these operations are included in its European Water and Wastewater and Asia-Pacific Water and Wastewater operating segments, as appropriate. The Company utilize multifunctional robotic devices developed by its French subsidiary in connection with the inspection and repair of pipelines. The Company also maintain a manufacturing facility in Wellingborough, United Kingdom to support European operations and through wh! ich the C! ompany sell liners to third parties.

Commercial and Structural Operations

The Company�� commercial and structural operations perform rehabilitation and strengthening of pipelines, buildings, bridges, tunnels and waterfront structures throughout the United States and Canada through Fibrwrap Construction Services, headquartered in Ontario, California, in its Asian markets through Its wholly owned subsidiaries and through Its joint ventures in Borneo and Indonesia and in its Latin American markets through its joint ventures in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru. Through Fyfe Co., headquartered in San Diego, California, the Company designs and manufactures the FRP composite systems used in these applications. It�� wholly owned Fyfe entities located in El Salvador, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Hong Kong and its Fyfe joint ventures in Borneo and Indonesia, provide product and engineering services throughout Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Its licensee in Greece provides product and services throughout the Middle East and Europe.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Aegion Corporation (Nasdaq:AEGN) reported the award today of two subcontracts for its Malaysian subsidiary, Insituform Linings Asia Sdn Bhd, with a total value of approximately $9.3 million (USD).

  • [By Damian Illia]

    Finally, I always like to see one of the most important financial ratios applying to stockholders, the best measure of performance for a firm's management: the return on equity. The ratio has decreased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of major weakness. Moreover, it is worse than those shown in the table like Aegion Corporation (AEGN), EnerNOC Inc. (ENOC), MYR GroupInc. (MYRG) and Pike Corporation (PIKE).

  • [By Alexis Xydias]

    The ISEQ Index (ISEQ) in Ireland and the ASE Index in Greece, the first two nations to receive European Union-led bailouts, have soared more than 28 percent this year to lead gains among 18 national benchmarks in western Europe. Dublin-based Independent News & Media Plc (INM) and Athens-based Aegean Airlines SA (AEGN) rose the most, with jumps of more than 180 percent. Germany�� DAX Index (DAX) has advanced 18 percent in 2013, reaching a record.

  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Infrastructure protection specialist Aegion (NASDAQ: AEGN  ) announced yesterday that it was acquiring maintenance, contraction, and engineering firm�Brinderson for $150 million and that the deal will close on July 1.