Top 5 US Companies To Invest In 2015

Speech at Harvard University, estimated date: June 1995

Transcription, comments [in brackets] and minor editing by Whitney Tilson

Moderator:

...and they discovered extreme, obvious irrationality in many areas of the economy that they looked at. And they were a little bit troubled because nothing that they had learned in graduate school explained these patterns. Now I would hope that Mr. Munger spends a little bit more time around graduate schools today, because we��e gotten now where he was 30 years ago, and we are trying to explain those patterns, and some of the people who are doing that will be speaking with you today.

So I think he thinks of his specialty as the Psychology of Human Misjudgment, and part of this human misjudgment, of course, comes from worrying about the types of fads and social pressures that Henry Kaufman talked to us about. I think it�� significant that Berkshire Hathaway is not headquartered in New York, or even in Los Angeles or San Francisco, but rather in the heart of the country in Nebraska.

Top 5 US Companies To Invest In 2015: Vanguard Reit Etf (VNQ)

Vanguard REIT ETF (the Fund), formerly known as Vanguard REIT VIPERs, is an exchange-traded share class of Vanguard REIT Index Fund. The Fund seeks to provide a high level of income and moderate long-term capital appreciation by tracking the performance of an index that measures the performance of publicly traded equity real estate investment trusts (REITs). Vanguard REIT ETF employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US REIT Index (the Index), an index of United States property trusts that covers about two-thirds of the value of the entire United States REIT market.

Vanguard REIT ETF normally invests approximately 98% of assets in stocks issued by equity REITs. The Fund invests in the stocks that make up the Index, and the remaining assets are allocated to cash investments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bill Stoller]

  After a banner 2013, the overall market has had a challenging start to 2014. However, these four companies have been crushing it: Alexander Real Estate (NYSE: ARE  ) , BioMed Realty Trust (NYSE: BMR  ) , CommonWealth REIT (NYSE: CWH  ) , and Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI  ) early on in 2014 vs. the S&P 500. Their relative out-performance can also be seen when compared to the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (NYSEMKT: VNQ  ) a good yardstick to measure sector performance.

• [By Howard Gold]

  In May, I said real estate investment trusts (REITs) ��ave outperformed the S&P 500 for 11 of the last 16 quarters��and so ��'d be inclined to take at least some profits.��That column ran pretty close to REITs' all-time high and the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ) has lost 11% of its value.

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Biomed Realty Trust Inc (NYSE: BMR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) offering an alternative way to gain exposure to the biotech or life sciences sector, meaning it might be worth taking a closer look at it along with a few benchmarks like the Vanguard REIT ETF (NYSEARCA: VNQ), iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI). Of course, it should be mentioned that REITs have had a rough ride lately�given all the ��apering��talk, but there is still a place for them in your portfolio with Biomed Realty Trust being one of the more unique offerings.

Top 5 US Companies To Invest In 2015: Jarden Corp (JAH)

Jarden Corporation (Jarden), incorporated on December 11, 2001, is a global consumer products company. The Company operates in three segments through a range of brands, including: Outdoor Solutions: Abu Garcia, Aero, Berkley, Campingaz, Coleman, ExOfficio, Fenwick, Gulp!, K2, Marker, Marmot, Mitchell, Penn, Rawlings, Shakespeare, Stearns, Stren, Trilene, Volkl and Zoot; Consumer Solutions: Bionaire, Crock-Pot, FoodSaver, Health o meter, Holmes, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Patton, Rival, Seal-a-Meal, Sunbeam, VillaWare and White Mountain, and Branded Consumables: Ball, Bee, Bernardin, Bicycle, Billy Boy, Crawford, Diamond, Dicon, Fiona, First Alert, First Essentials, Hoyle, Kerr, Lehigh, Lillo, Loew-Cornell, Mapa, NUK, Pine Mountain, Quickie, Spontex and Tigex. On December 31, 2012, American Capital Ltd sold its portfolio company Lifoam Holdings, Inc. to the Company. In October 2013, Jarden Corporation completed its acquisition of Yankee Candle Investments LLC from a fund managed by Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC.

Outdoor Solutions

The Outdoor Solutions segment manufactures or sources, markets and distributes global consumer lifestyle products for outdoor and outdoor-related activities. For general outdoor activities, Coleman is a brand for lifestyle products, offering an array of products that include camping and outdoor equipment such as air beds, camping stoves, coolers, foldable furniture, gas grills, lanterns and flashlights, sleeping bags, tents and water recreation products, such as inflatable boats, kayaks and tow-behinds. The Outdoor Solutions segment is also a provider of fishing equipment under brand names, such as Abu Garcia, All Star, Berkley, Fenwick, Gulp!, JRC, Mitchell, Penn, Pflueger, Sebile, Sevenstrand, Shakespeare, Spiderwire, Stren, Trilene, Ugly Stik and Xtools. Team sports equipment for baseball, basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse and softball products are sold under brand names, such as deBeer, Gait, Miken, Rawlings and Worth. Alpine and nordic skiing! , snowboarding, snowshoeing and in-line skating products are sold under brand names, such as Atlas, Full Tilt, K2, Line, Little Bear, Madshus, Marker, Morrow, Ride, Tubbs, Volkl and 5150 Snowboards.

Water sports equipment, personal flotation devices and all-terrain vehicle gear are sold under brand names, such as Helium, Hodgman, Mad Dog Gear, Sevylor, Sospenders and Stearns. The Company also sells technical and outdoor apparel and equipment under brand names, such as CAPP3L, Ex Officio, K2, Marker, Marmot, Planet Earth, Ride, Volkl and Zoot, and air beds under brand names, including Aero, Aerobed and Aero Sport. The Company has warehouse and distribution facilities in Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Pacific Rim and the United States. It also uses third party warehouses and logistical services. It manufactures its products at facilities in China, Europe, Latin America and North America, as well as through third-party sourcing, primarily in Asia.

Consumer Solutions

The Consumer Solutions segment manufactures or sources, markets, and distributes a line of household products, including kitchen appliances and home environment products. This segment maintains a portfolio of brands, including Bionaire, Crock-Pot, FoodSaver, Health o meter, Holmes, Mr. Coffee, Oster, Patton, Rival, Seal-a-Meal, Sunbeam and Villaware. The principal products in this segment include clippers and trimmers for professional use in the beauty and barber and animal categories; electric blankets, mattress pads and throws; household kitchen appliances, such as blenders, coffeemakers, irons, mixers, slow cookers, toasters, toaster ovens and vacuum packaging machines; home environmental products, such as air purifiers, fans, heaters and humidifiers; products for the hospitality industry, and scales for consumer use.

Branded Consumables

The Branded Consumables segment manufactures or sources, markets and distributes a line of branded consumer products, including arts and c! rafts pai! nt brushes, brooms, brushes, buckets, children�� card games, clothespins, collectible tins, condoms, cord, rope and twine, dusters, dust pans, feeding bottles, fencing, fire extinguishing products, firelogs and firestarters, home canning jars and accessories, kitchen matches, mops, other craft items, pacifiers, plastic cutlery, playing cards and accessories, rubber gloves and related cleaning products, safes, security cameras, security doors, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, soothers, sponges, storage organizers and workshop accessories, teats, toothpicks, window guards and other accessories. This segment markets its products under the Aviator, Ball, Bee, Bernardin, Bicycle, Billy Boy, BRK, Crawford, Diamond, Dicon, Fiona, First Alert, First Essentials, Hoyle, Java-Log, KEM, Kerr, Lehigh, Lillo, Loew-Cornell, Mapa, NUK, Pine Mountain, Quickie Green Cleaning, Quickie Home-Pro, Quickie Microban, Quickie Original, Quickie Professional, Spontex, Tigex and Wellington brand names, among others.

The Company manufactures products, such as firelogs and firestarters, kitchen matches and metal closures for its home canning jars in its domestic facilities. It also manufactures playing cards and certain baby care products, home care products, healthcare products and home safety products at facilities worldwide, including facilities in Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and South America.

Process Solutions

In addition to the three primary business segments, the Company�� Process Solutions segment manufactures, markets and distributes a variety of plastic products, including closures, contact lens packaging, medical disposables, plastic cutlery and rigid packaging. Its materials business produces specialty nylon polymers, conductive fibers and monofilament used in various products, including woven mats used by paper producers and weed trimmer cutting line, as well as fiberglass radio antennas for marine, citizen band and military applications. It is also a producer o! f niche p! roducts fabricated from solid zinc strip and is the supplier of copper-plated zinc penny blanks to the United States Mint and a supplier to the Royal Canadian Mint, as well as a supplier of brass, bronze and nickel-plated finishes on steel and zinc for coinage to other international markets. In addition, it manufactures a line of industrial zinc products marketed worldwide for use in the architectural, automotive, construction, electrical component and plumbing markets.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of consumer goods maker Jarden (NYSE: JAH  ) jumped as much as 10% today after the company released earnings.

  So what: Revenue was up 5.7% in the first quarter, to $1.58 billion, just beating the $1.56 billion estimate. The company did swing to a net loss of $4.4 million, but if you pull out one-time items, earnings were $0.30 per share, far exceeding the $0.23 estimate.�

Hot Sliver Stocks To Buy For 2015: Energy and Minerals Australia Ltd (EMA)

Energy & Minerals Australia Limited is an Australia-based uranium exploration and development company. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), the Company continued with exploration and development of its tenement package and progression of development studies on the Mulga Rock project. The Company operates one business segment: exploration. The activities undertaken by the exploration segment includes the exploration on tenements in Western Australia and scoping study activities on the Mulga Rock project. The Mulga Rock project is located about 250 Kilometer northeast of Kalgoorlie. The Mulga Rock Deposits (MRD) comprises four separate deposits being: Ambassador, Emperor ,Shogun and the Princess Deposit, The Company holds over 900 square kilometers of land surrounding the MRD. Narnoo Mining Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company , is the registered holder of exploration licenses numbered E39/876 and E39/877. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Aspray, Senior Editor, MoneyShow.com]

  To calculate the Mass Index:

  Calculate a nine-day exponential moving average (EMA) of the difference between the high and low prices. Calculate a nine-day exponential moving average of the moving average calculated in Step 1. Divide the moving average calculated in Step 1 by the moving average calculated in Step 2. Total the values in Step 3 for the number of periods in the Mass Index (e.g., 25 days).

Top 5 US Companies To Invest In 2015: Unisys Corporation (UIS)

Unisys Corporation provides information technology (IT) services, software, and technology that solve mission-critical problems for clients worldwide. It operates in two segments, Services and Technology. The Services segment provides outsourcing services, including management of customers� data centers, computer servers, and end-user computing environments, as well as specific business processes; systems integration and consulting services, such as assessing the security and cost effectiveness of clients� IT systems and enabling them to design, integrate, and modernize mission-critical applications; infrastructure services consisting of design, warranty, and support services for its customers� IT infrastructure, such as networks, desktops, servers, and mobile and wireless devices; and maintenance services. The Technology segment designs and develops servers and related products consisting of enterprise-class servers, which comprise the ClearPath family of servers and t he ES7000 family of Intel-based servers, as well as operating system software and middleware; and provides data center, infrastructure management, and cloud computing offerings for clients to virtualize and automate their data-center environments. The company serves public sector; financial services; and other commercial markets comprising communications and transportation. Unisys Corporation markets its products and services primarily through direct sales force, as well as through distributors and alliance partners. Unisys Corporation was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, outside the Dow, Unisys (NYSE: UIS  ) saw its shares lose nearly a quarter of their value after announcing a substantial loss. Although much of the hit to earnings came from Venezuela's recent devaluation of its currency and additional pension expense, weakness in its systems-integration and technology divisions led to a big drop in revenue. As much larger competitors start to concentrate more on IT services, Unisys will struggle to find a niche it can rely on to reawaken its growth prospects.

• [By Evan Niu]

  What: Shares of Unisys (NYSE: UIS  ) have popped by as much as 13% today after the company reported earnings.

  So what: Revenue of $859 million crushed the consensus estimate of $838 million. The bottom line also beat, but by less. Unisys posted non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.91, slightly ahead of the $0.90-per-share forecast.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Unisys (NYSE: UIS) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.40 per share on revenue of $854.13 million.

  Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.73 per share on revenue of $1.17 billion.

Top 5 US Companies To Invest In 2015: JTH Holding Inc (TAX)

JTH Holding, Inc. (JTH Holding), incorporated in September 2010, is a holding company engaged through its subsidiaries as a franchisor and operator of a system of income tax preparation offices located in the United States and Canada. The Company is a retail preparer of individual tax returns. JTH Holding's principal operations are conducted through its subsidiary, JTH Tax, Inc. (JTH Tax). Through this system of income tax preparation offices, JTH Holding also facilitates to its customer refund-based tax settlement financial products, such as refund anticipation loans, electronic refund checks, and personal income tax refund discounting. On September 30, 2010, JTH Tax entered into an Agreement of Merger and Plan of Reorganization with JTH Holding. At the closing of the merger on September 30, 2010, JTH Tax merged with and became a wholly owned subsidiary of JTH Holding.

As of September 2, 2011 (fiscal 2011), the Company had 3,900 tax offices and the number of United States tax returns prepared in its offices is approximately 1.7 million. The Company provides its customers with value-added federal and state tax preparation services and related financial products both in retail offices and online. During fiscal 2011, the Company and its franchisees operated 3,590 offices in the United States in tax season. Approximately 63% of its revenue for fiscal 2011 was derived from franchise fees, royalties and advertising fees. During fiscal 2011, during tax season its online customers prepared approximately 98,000 tax returns using its online tax offering, eSmartTax.

The Company earns franchisee fees from its franchisees and advertisements (Ads). The Company offers its franchisees structures and financing options for franchise fees and royalty payments. The Company earns royalty revenue from its franchisees. Its franchise agreement requires franchisees to pay the Company a base royalty equal to 14% of the franchisee's tax preparation revenue, subject to certain specified minimums. Fran! chisees acquiring territories under its no franchise fee alternative will be required to pay it franchise royalties of 25% through their first five tax seasons, and thereafter 14% of their tax preparation revenue. The Company earns advertising fee revenue from its franchisees. Its franchise agreement requires all franchisees to pay the Company an advertising fee of 5% of the franchisee's tax preparation revenue.

The Company offers two types of financial products: refund transfer products, such as electronic refund checks (ERCs), which involve providing a means by which a customer may receive his or her refund, and refund-based loans, such as refund anticipation loans (RALs) and instant cash advances (ICAs). The Company earns fees from the use of these financial products. The Company also earns tax preparation revenue directly from both the operation of company-owned offices and the provision of tax preparation services through its eSmartTax online product.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  April 15th is tax day and tax preparer stocks like small cap�JTH Holding Inc (NASDAQ: TAX), mid cap�H & R Block Inc (NYSE: HRB) and large cap�Intuit Inc (NASDAQ: INTU) help millions of Americans to figure out just how much they owe to ��ig brother.��But which of these tax preparation stocks is the best investment for investors looking for a way to offset that tax bite? First, here is a quick overview of�each tax preparer: