Monday, June 30, 2014

Hot Industrial Conglomerate Companies For 2015

Hot Industrial Conglomerate Companies For 2015: ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA)

ThyssenKrupp AG is a Germany-based technology holding company operating in seven business areas. The Steel Europe division produces carbon steel flat products. The Steel Americas division is engaged in production, processing and marketing of high-grade carbon steels. The Materials Services division is engaged in global distribution of materials and the provision of complex technical services for the production and manufacturing sectors. The Elevator Technology division is engaged in the area of passenger transportation systems. The Plant Technology division focuses on specialty and large-scale plant construction. The Components Technology division is engaged in manufacturing components for the automotive, construction and engineering sectors as well as for wind turbines. The Marine Systems division focuses on naval and civil shipbuilding. Apart from its business areas, it provides business services, which are diversified into Business Services and Information Technology (IT) Services. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Corinne Gretler]

    ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA) slumped 9.3 percent after Germanys largest steelmaker raised 882.3 million euros ($1.21 billion) through a share sale. Standard Chartered Plc lost 8.1 percent. Sage Group (SGE) Plc, the U.K.s biggest software maker, rose 6.8 percent after reporting revenue growth that exceeded analysts estimates. AZ Electronic Materials SA surged 43 percent after Merck KGaA (MRK) agreed to buy it for about 1.6 billion pounds ($2.6 billion).

  • [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

    ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA), Germanys largest steelmaker, rose to a five-week high. YOC AG (YOC) surged the most in more than three months after the mobile-phone advertising company said it sold 1.3 million euros ($1.7 million) of shares to increase capital. Lanxess AG (LXS), the chemical maker that joined the DAX in September, retreated 3.4 percent.

  • [By Corinne Gretler]!

    Telekom Austria (TKA) slid 1.6 percent to 5.63 euros. Second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to 330.3 million euros ($439 million) from 364.8 million euros a year earlier. That compared with the average 332.7 million-euro analyst estimate.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/hot-industrial-conglomerate-companies-for-2015.html

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014

NEW YORK ��Wendy's is rolling out a program that lets customers pay using their smartphones, following a similar plans unveiled by Burger King this week.

Wendy's, based in Dublin, Ohio, has been testing the mobile payment option over the past year and said the majority of its roughly 5,800 U.S. locations are now ready to accept the payments.

The move reflects a push by fast-food chains to court younger customers by tapping into the attachment they have to their phones.

"If they want to come in and give us business, we want to allow them to pay the way they want to pay," Craig Bahner, chief marketing officer for Wendy's, said in a phone interview.

STARBUCKS: Adds digital tipping to its menu

Burger King Worldwide Inc. also said this week it would introduce a mobile payment program at its U.S. restaurants in April.

10 Best Trucking Stocks For 2015: Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc (FRGI)

Fiesta Restaurant Group, Inc. (Fiesta Restaurant Group), incorporated on April 27, 2011, owns, operates and franchises two fast-casual restaurant brands, Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana. The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants offer a range of tropical and Caribbean inspired food, while the Company's Taco Cabana restaurants offers a range of fresh, authentic Mexican food. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company owned and operated a total of 251 restaurants across four states, which included 91 Pollo Tropical and 160 Taco Cabana restaurants. The Company franchises its Pollo Tropical restaurants internationally. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company had 35 franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants located in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and on several college campuses in Florida. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company had eight Taco Cabana franchised restaurants located in Georgia, New Mexico and Texas.

Pollo Tropical

The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants offer tropical and Caribbean inspired menu items, featuring grilled chicken marinated in the Company's blend of tropical fruit juices and spices. The Company's diverse menu also includes a line of TropiChops (a casserole bowl of grilled chicken, roast pork or grilled vegetables served over white, brown or yellow rice and red or black beans and topped with a range of condiments and sauces), a range of chicken sandwiches, wraps, salads, roast pork, grilled ribs and wings offered with a range of salsas, sauces and Caribbean style made from scratch side dishes, including black beans and rice, Yucatan fries and sweet plantains, as well as menu items, such as french fries, corn and salads. The Company also offers Hispanic desserts, such as flan and tres leches, and at certain locations, the Company offers a range of sangria, wine and beer.

The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants feature signature dining areas. In additiona, the Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants ! provide its guests the option of take-out, as well as the convenience of drive-thru windows. The Company's Pollo Tropical restaurants are open for lunch, dinner and late night orders seven days per week. As of December 30, 2012, its company-owned Pollo Tropical restaurants were freestanding buildings. The Company's typical free-standing Pollo Tropical restaurant ranges from 2,800 to 3,500 square feet and provide interior seating for approximately 70 guests. As of December 30, 2012 , the Company owned and operated a total of 91 Pollo Tropical restaurants, of which 89 were located in Florida and two were located in Georgia. The Company is franchising its Pollo Tropical restaurants internationally. As of December 30, 2012, the Company had 35 franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants located in Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Honduras, Trinidad, the Bahamas, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Panama and on college campuses in Florida. The Company also has agreements for the future development of franchised Pollo Tropical restaurants in Tobago, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Guatemala and India.

Taco Cabana

The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants serve Mexican food, including flame-grilled beef and chicken fajitas served on sizzling iron skillets, quesadillas, hand-rolled flautas, enchiladas, burritos, tacos, fresh-made flour tortillas, a selection of made from scratch salsas and sauces, customizable salads served in a Cabana bowl, traditional Mexican and American breakfasts and other Mexican dishes. The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants also offer a range of beverage choices, including soft drinks, frozen margaritas and beer.

The Company's Taco Cabana restaurants feature interior dining areas, as well as semi-enclosed and outdoor patio areas. In addition, the Company's Taco Cabana restaurants provide its guests the option of take-out. The Company's freestanding Taco Cabana restaurants average approximately 3,500 square feet (exclusive of the exterior dining area) and provide seating for approximatel! y 80 gues! ts, with additional outside patio seating for approximately 50 guests. As of December 30, 2012, its company-owned Taco Cabana restaurants were freestanding buildings. As of December 30, 2012, the Company owned and operated 160 Taco Cabana restaurants, of which 156 are located in Texas and four in Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Calling all cash flows
    When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Fiesta Restaurant Group (Nasdaq: FRGI  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • [By GURUFOCUS]

    Fiesta Restaurant Group (FRGI) was the Fund's best performing position in the fourth quarter and for all of 2013. Over the past year the stock g ained over 240 percent and added 212 basis points of return. The fast-food chain has con tinued to restructure after spinning off Burger King restaurants and is now successfully ach ieving organic growth. We continue to believe the stock is undervalued and expect further growth ahead.

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014: Burger King Worldwide Inc (BKW)

Burger King Worldwide, Inc., incorporated on April 2, 2012, is a fast food hamburger restaurant, under the Burger King brand. The Company generates revenues from three sources: franchise revenues, consisting primarily of royalties based on a percentage of sales reported by franchise restaurants and fees paid by franchisees; property income from properties that it leases or subleases to franchisees, and retail sales at Company restaurants. In September 2012, it sold 41 Company-owned BURGER KING restaurants in Singapore to Rancak Selera Sdn Bhd. As of December 31, 2012, it owned or franchised a total of 12,997 restaurants in 86 countries and United States territories. In April 2013, it announced the sale of Burger King Restaurants of Canada (BKRC), including 94 Company owned BURGER KING restaurants in the Canada market to Redberry Investments Corp.

The Company operates in the FFHR category of the quick service restaurant (QSR), segment of the restaurant industry. In the United States, the QSR segment is the segment of the restaurant industry and has demonstrated steady growth over a long period of time. The Company launched four new menu platforms (salads, wraps, smoothies and desserts) and expanded its chicken, coffee and ancillary menu platforms. It has established a data driven marketing process, which is focused on driving restaurant sales and traffic, while targeting a broader consumer base with more inclusive messaging to reach women, parties with children and seniors.

United States and Canada (U.S. and Canada)

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 7,293 franchise restaurants and 183 Company restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company refranchised 752 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, bringing the region to 98% franchised. During the year ended December 31, 2012, it also continued to implement its Four Pillars strategy to improve comparable sales growth and franchise profitability by enhancing its Menu, Marke! ting Communications, Image, and Operations.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 2,989 franchise restaurants and 132 Company restaurants in EMEA. While in Germany continues with 684 restaurants as of December 31, 2012, Turkey and Russia are two of its growing markets with net openings of 78 restaurants and 47 restaurants, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2012.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 1,290 franchise and 100 Company restaurants in LAC. In 2011, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement with Vinci Partners for Brazil and granted franchise and development rights to the joint venture. The Company received a minority stake and board seats in the joint venture without deploying its own capital.

Asia Pacific (APAC)

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had 1,007 franchise and 3 Company restaurants in APAC. As of December 31, 2012,the Company had 357 restaurants in Australia. It contributed 44 Company restaurants in China. In September 2012, the Company sold 38restaurants to Rancak Selera, the Burger King franchisee in Malaysia.

The Company competes with McDonald�� Corporation, Wendy�� Company, Carl�� Jr., Jack in the Box and Sonic.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

    AP Photo/Burger King Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a Japanese gaming pioneer finally cutting prices on its poor selling devices to a burger chain introducing a burger for a buck, here's a rundown of the week's smartest moves and biggest blunders in the business world. Walmart (WMT) -- Winner The country's biggest retailer was singled out in this column last week for the way that it's bringing back its layaway plan for the holiday shopping season. And this week it earns another shout out. In a memo to its associates this week, Walmart revealed that its health insurance policies for 2014 will cover "any spouse or domestic partner" regardless of gender. Walmart knows that this is still a polarizing topic. However, by opening up health coverage to domestic partners -- gay or straight -- Walmart is likely to score points with many who have been critical of the company's practices in the past. Sure, we can lament that just half of Walmart's 1.3 million associates have elected health coverage through the company. No one's saying the giant discounter is perfect. However, this move will help improve its image with a lot of its detractors. Burger King (BKW) -- Loser Burger chains are bucking the trend these days, beefing up their dollar menus at a time when the economy is showing signs of life. There's a reason for that. Customers are moving up to higher quality "fast casual" establishments that offer better food at slightly higher price points with the convenience of counter service. Burger King's latest push was announced this week. It will add a French fry-topped hamburger -- for a buck -- to its menu in September. There's nothing inherently wrong with the new sandwich. Who hasn't placed fries inside their burger from time to time? However, this seems like a bad play for franchisees: They may see fry sales slip at the hands of penny-pinching diners believing that they can knock of

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014: Ignite Restaurant Group Inc (IRG)

Ignite Restaurant Group, Inc., incorporated on February 4, 2002, operates two restaurant brands, Joe's Crab Shack (Joe's) and Brick House Tavern + Tap (Brick House). The Company�� Joe's Crab Shack and Brick House Tavern + Tap operate in a diverse set of markets across the United States. Joe's Crab Shack is a national chain of casual seafood restaurants serving a variety of seafood items, with an emphasis on crab. Brick House Tavern + Tap is a casual restaurant brand that provides guests a gastro pub experience by offering a blend of menu items. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned and operated 144 restaurants in 33 states. In September 2013, Ignite Restaurant Group Inc announced the opening of its newest Joe's Crab Shack restaurant, located in Newark, New Jersey.

Joe's Crab Shack

The Company�� Joe's Crab Shack offers an outdoor patio for guests to enjoy eating and drinking and a children's playground. Joe's also has many locations that are located on waterfront property. Interior design elements include a nautical, vacation theme to invoke memories of beach vacations and a genuine crab shack experience. Joe's Crab Shack restaurants have over 200 seats. Many of the Company�� restaurants also include a small gift shop where guests can purchase souvenirs to commemorate their dining experience. Joe's Crab Shack also leverages its crab-forward menu with other crab items, including Made-From-Scratch Crab Cakes, Crab Nachos and Crazy-Good Crab Dip. In addition to its core crab-focused menu, Joe's also offers a range of entrees featuring a variety of seafood, including the Get Stuffed Snapper, Surf 'N Turf Burger and The Big Hook Up, as well as a range of traditional seafood entrees like the Fisherman's Platter. Joe's also offers several out of water options, such as Pan Fried Cheesy Chicken and Whiskey Smoked Ribs. In addition, alcoholic beverages include the Shark Bite, Category 5 Hurricane and Mason Jar cocktails emerging as guests' top choices. Joe's menu inc! ludes more than 29 items made with either Queen, Snow, Dungeness or King Crabs sourced from government regulated and sustainable fisheries. Its menu offers 14 appetizers, including Made-From-Scratch Crab Cakes, Crab Nachos and Crazy-Good Crab Dip, and over 50 entrees, including Steampots, Crab in a Bucket, Skillet Paella, Stuffed Snapper and out of water options like Whiskey Smoked Ribs.

Brick House Tavern + Tap

The Company�� Brick House's interior decor includes custom lighting, dark mahogany woods, open sight lines, high definition television (HD TVs), and an inviting fireplace. In addition to a traditional dining room and bar area, Brick House also offers large communal tables and a section of leather recliners positioned in front of large HD TVs, where guests receive their own TV tray for dining. Outdoor seating is also available on the patio or around an open fire pit at nearly all locations. Both food and beverages are served by personable and engaging service staff. The typical Brick House restaurant is approximately 8,500 square feet and averages approximately 250 seats, which includes both traditional tables and seating options. Brick House offers its guests a selection of contemporary tavern food. Brick House's menu includes 17 appetizers and over 53 entrees. Handcrafted appetizers include Deviled Eggs, Meatloaf Sliders, Brick Pizza, Meat and Cheese Board and Fried Stuffed Olives. Brick House offers an array of burgers, including The Kobe, which is hand formed from American Wagyu beef. Guests can also choose from a selection of homemade entrees, such as Drunken Chops, BBQ Baby Backs, Chicken & Waffles, and its Prime Rib Sandwich. In addition, Brick House's Brick Burgers, include the Gun Show Burger and the Black & Bleu Burger. Brick House's beverage selection includes imported and domestic beers along with hand-pulled cask beer. All Brick House restaurants have a bar that supports a variety of liquor drinks, wine and beer cocktails like the Shandy and Bee Sting, a! s well as! specialty cocktails like the Dark & Stormy, Moscow Mule and The Zombie.

The Company competes with Red Lobster, Bonefish Grill, Landry's Seafood, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, BJ's Restaurants, Yard House, Cheesecake Factory, Bravo Brio and Buffalo Wild Wings, Applebee's, Chili's, T.G.I. Friday's, Texas Roadhouse and Outback Steakhouse.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Victor Selva]

    The firm is currently Zacks Rank # 3 - Hold, and it also has a longer-term recommendation of ��nderperfom.��For investors looking for a Zacks Rank # 1 ��Strong Buy, Ignite Restaurant Group Inc. (IRG) and The Wendy's Company (WEN) could be the options.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Margins matter. The more Ignite Restaurant Group (Nasdaq: IRG  ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Ignite Restaurant Group's competitive position could be.

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014: Planet Platinum Ltd (PPN)

Planet Platinum Limited is an Australia-based company engaged in the operation of Showgirls Bar 20 and the on-going rental of property in Elsternwick. The Company operates in two segments: hospitality and entertainment and property rental businesses. The Company�� hospitality and entertainment segment comprises operations of Showgirls Bar 20 in Melbourne and is engaged in the nightclub through the provision of beverages and adult entertainment. Property segment comprise maintaining of rental property at Home Street, Elsternwick. The Company continues to receive lease rentals from its Home Street property. The investment property is located at 12 Home Street, Elsternwick Victoria. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tabitha Jean Naylor]

    Americans consume a lot of chicken. It estimated that Americans consume about 81 pounds of poultry per year, per capita. With there being upwards of 310 million people living in the United States, it is no wonder why poultry production is big business. Two of the biggest names in poultry production are Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) and Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ: PPN).

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014: BAB Inc (BABB)

BAB, Inc., incorporated on July 12, 2000, franchises and licenses bagel and muffin retail units under the Big Apple Bagel (BAB) and My Favorite Muffin (MFM) trade names. At November 30, 2012, the Company had 100 franchise units and 6 licensed units in operation in 24 states. The Company additionally derives income from the sale of its trademark bagels, muffins and coffee through nontraditional channels of distribution including under licensing agreements with Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard, Kaleidoscoops, Green Beans Coffee, Sodexo and through direct home delivery of specialty muffin gift baskets and coffee. The Company has two wholly owned subsidiaries: BAB Systems, Inc. (Systems) and BAB Operations, Inc. (Operations). At November 30, 2012, the Company had 100 franchise units and six licensed units in operation in 24 states.

The Company additionally derives income from the sale of its trademark bagels, muffins and coffee through nontraditional channels of distribution including under licensing agreements with Kohr Bros. Frozen Custard, Kaleidoscoops, Green Beans Coffee, Sodexo and through direct home delivery of specialty muffin gift baskets and coffee. The BAB franchised brand consists of units operating as Big Apple Bagels, featuring daily baked bagels, flavored cream cheeses, premium coffees, gourmet bagel sandwiches and other related products. Licensed BAB units serve the Company's par-baked frozen bagel and related products baked daily. BAB units are primarily concentrated in the Midwest and Western United States. The MFM brand consists of units operating as My Favorite Muffin, featuring a variety of freshly baked muffins, coffees and related products, and units operating as My Favorite Muffin and Bagel Cafe, featuring these products as well as a variety of specialty bagel sandwiches and related products.

The Company�� BAB offering franchises in all 50 states, its initial development focus is targeted for the Midwest, specifically Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio. A! s part of its introductory development plan, BAB will be donating 10% of the initial franchise fee from its 50 SweetDuet units to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, of which BAB is a corporate sponsor. SweetDuet, as its name implies, is a fusion concept, pairing self-serve frozen yogurt with BAB's exclusive line of My Favorite Muffin gourmet muffins, broadening the shop's offering and therefore differentiating itself from the numerous frozen yogurt outlets already populating the market. SweetDuet shops include BAB's Brewster's Coffee and a streamlined breakfast menu. The concept is designed to work in 1600 square feet of space.

BAB franchised stores daily bake a variety of fresh bagels and offer up to 11 varieties of cream cheese spreads. Stores also offer a variety of breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, salads, soups, various dessert items, fruit smoothies, gourmet coffees and other beverages. A typical BAB store is in an area with a mix of both residential and commercial properties and ranges from 1,500 to 2,000 square feet. The Company's current store design is approximately 1,800 square feet, with seating capacity for 20 to 30 persons, and includes approximately 750 square feet devoted to production and baking. A satellite store is typically smaller than a production store, averaging 800 to 1,200 square feet. Although franchise stores may vary in size from other franchise stores, store layout is generally consistent.

MFM franchised stores daily bake 20 to 25 varieties of muffins from over 250 recipes, plus a variety of bagels. They also serve gourmet coffees, beverages and, at My Favorite Muffin and Bagel Cafe locations, a variety of bagel sandwiches and related products. The typical MFM store design is approximately 1,800 square feet, with seating capacity for 20 to 30 persons.The Company advertises its franchising opportunities in directories, newspapers and the Internet.

The Company competes with Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Panera Bread Company and Brue! gger's Ba! gel Bakery.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, BABB remains (0.00%) +0.000 at $.800 thus far (ref. google finance July 11, 2013).

    For the quarter ended May 31, 2013, BAB had revenues of $658,000 and net income of $125,000, or $0.02 per share, versus revenues of $826,000 and net income of $267,000, or $0.04 per share, for the same quarter last year. For the quarter ended May 31, 2012, the Company received a $171,000 payment for the buyout of the Franchise Agreement from its Minot, ND franchisee so the franchisee could pursue its other business interests associated with the local energy boom. In that acceptance by the Company of the voluntary buyout is unique, no such transaction occurred nor was such income earned in the quarter ended May 31, 2013.

Best Restaurant Stocks To Own For 2014: DineEquity Inc (DIN)

DineEquity, Inc., incorporated on May 07, 1976, owns franchise and operate two restaurant concepts: Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, (Applebee's), in the bar and grill segment of the casual dining category of the restaurant industry, and International House of Pancakes (IHOP), in the family dining category of the restaurant industry. As of December 31, 2012, the franchise operations segment consisted of 2,011 restaurants operated by Applebee's franchisees in the United States, one United States territory and 15 foreign countries and 1,569 restaurants operated by IHOP franchisees and area licensees in the United States, two United States territories and five foreign countries. As of December 31, 2012, the Company restaurant operations segment consisted of 23 Applebee's Company-operated restaurants, 10 IHOP Company-operated restaurants and two IHOP restaurants reacquired from franchisees and operated by IHOP on a temporary basis until refranchised. Financing operations revenue primarily consists of interest income from the financing of franchise fees and equipment leases, as well as sales of equipment associated with refranchised IHOP restaurants and a portion of franchise fees for restaurants taken back from franchisees not allocated to IHOP intellectual property. In October 2012, it completed the refranchising program and completed the transitioning to a 99% franchised restaurant system.

Applebee's

The Company develops, franchises and operates restaurants in the bar and grill segment of the casual dining category of the restaurant industry under the name Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar. As of December 31, 2012, 68 franchise groups operated 2,011 of these restaurants and 23 restaurants were Company-operated. The restaurants were located in 49 states, one United States territory and 15 countries outside of the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2012, 20 domestic franchise restaurants opened, six domestic franchise restaurants closed. 154 Company-operated! restaurants were franchised. The number of restaurants held by an individual franchisee ranges from one to 438 restaurants. As of December 31, 2012, it is focusing on international franchising primarily in Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Mediterranean/Middle East. As of December 31, 2012, there were 149 international Applebee's franchise restaurants. During 2012, 14 international franchise restaurants opened and 13 international franchise restaurants closed.

IHOP

The Company develops franchises and operates restaurants in the family dining category of the restaurant industry under the names IHOP and International House of Pancakes. As of December 31, 2012 there were a total of 1,581 IHOP restaurants of which 1,404 were subject to franchise agreements, 165 were subject to area license agreements, 10 were Company-operated restaurants and two restaurants were reacquired from franchisees and operated by IHOP on a temporary basis. The Company owns and operates 10 IHOP restaurants in the Cincinnati market area primarily to test new remodel programs, operating procedures, products, technology, cooking platforms and service models. IHOP restaurants are located in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands and internationally in Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. As of December 31, 2012, the area licensee for the state of Florida and certain counties in Georgia operated or sub-franchised a total of 152 IHOP restaurants, and the area licensees for the province of British Columbia, Canada operated or sub-franchised a total of 13 IHOP restaurants. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had signed commitments and options from franchisees to build 245 IHOP restaurants over the next 17 years, comprised of 5 restaurants under single-restaurant or non-traditional development agreements, 120 restaurants under multi-restaurant development agreements and 63 restaurants! under in! ternational development agreements. As of December 31, 2012, there were 1,525 domestic IHOP franchise and area license restaurants. During 2012, its franchisees and area licensees opened 40 domestic franchise restaurants and 17 domestic franchise and area license restaurants were closed. As of December 31, 2012, there were 44 international IHOP franchise and area license restaurants. During 2012, its franchisees opened eight international franchise restaurants and no restaurants were closed.

The Company competes with Chili's, T.G.I. Friday's, Ruby Tuesday's, Denny's, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Bob Evans Restaurants.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    The Q4 2014 earnings report for restaurant stock Bob Evans Farms Inc (NASDAQ: BOBE), a potential peer of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL), Denny's Corporation (NASDAQ: DENN) and DineEquity Inc (NYSE: DIN), is scheduled for after the market closes on Tuesday. Aside from the Bob Evans Farms report, it should be said that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc reported Q3 2014 earnings on May 28th (revenues and profit�rose on�lower expenses); Denny's Corporation reported Q1 2014 earnings on April 28th (they had their strongest quarter of same-store sales at company restaurants in over seven years); and DineEquity Inc reported Q1 2014 on May 1st (earnings rose on stronger sales). However, Bob Evans Farms�recently replaced�three board members with new independent directors after�facing criticism from shareholder Sandell Asset Management Corp.

  • [By CNBC]

    Tony Tribble, Invision/AP Forget about Bloomin' Onions or boneless wings, for many consumers, the choice of where to dine often comes down to a different factor: which restaurant has the best booze. "Alcoholic beverages can be a key driver of traffic, differentiation, and loyalty," said David Decker, president of Consumer Edge Insight. According to the firm, two factors that keep customers coming back are "selection" and "pricing." Consumer Edge Insight recently surveyed restaurant customers to find out which casual-dining spots generated the most loyalty with their alcoholic beverages. Taking the top spot for "selection" was Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD), with 29 percent of those surveyed saying they were "most likely to visit it most often due to its good selection of alcoholic beverages." Applebee's (DIN) took the second spot, with 24 percent, and Outback Steakhouse (BLMN) and T.G.I. Friday's tied for third place with 22 percent each. Prices also keep customers coming back to Buffalo Wild Wings. When asked which casual-dining brand they were "most likely to visit most often due to its good prices of alcoholic beverages," Buffalo Wild Wings came out on top with 30 percent. Chili's (EAT) was No. 2 at 23 percent, and Ruby Tuesday (RT) was third with 22 percent. Buffalo Wild Wings has always made alcohol a part of its experience, even making it part of its tagline: "Wings.Beer.Sports." The chain is the No. 1 account for more than 50 different beer brands and recently launched Game Changer, a new beer in a partnership with Redhook Brewery. Priced between cheaper domestic lagers and pricier craft beers, Game Changer became the fourth-most-popular draft beer at company-owned locations within two weeks of its release. "Among casual-dining restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings is seeing the greatest positive effect in terms of building customer loyalty with its alcohol offerings," Decker said. "There are many steps other restaurants can take to improve their alcoho

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now

Shares of SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA  ) opened higher this morning after an overnight report in Israeli's Calcalist daily business newspaper indicated that PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP  ) might be trying to acquire the company behind the fast-growing carbonated beverage maker.

Really? That doesn't make sense.

Sources were telling the paper that the world's second-largest soda company was working on a $2 billion deal that would cash out SodaStream investors to the tune of roughly $95 a share. Given the explicit details of the story -- down to naming Goldman Sachs as the investment banker presenting the offer on PepsiCo's behalf and SodaStream checking with Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) to gauge interest before moving ahead on negotiations with PepsiCo -- it was just a matter of time before any of the named parties would squash the chatter.

PepsiCo did, denying that an offer was ever made. However, the story seemed ridiculous even before the denial.

Top 10 Long Term Companies To Invest In Right Now: Rock-Tenn Co (RKT)

Rock-Tenn Company (RockTenn), incorporated on September 20, 1985, is a North America's integrated manufacturer of corrugated and consumer packaging. The Company operates locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico and China. The Company operates in three segments: Corrugated Packaging, consisting of its containerboard mills and its corrugated converting operations; Consumer Packaging, consisting of its coated and uncoated paperboard mills, consumer packaging converting operations and merchandising display facilities, and Recycling, which consists of its recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations. On June 22, 2012, the Company acquired Mid South Packaging LLC. On October 28, 2011, the Company acquired four entities doing business as GMI Group.

Corrugated Packaging Segment

The Company is a producer of linerboard and corrugated medium (containerboard) measured by tons produced and a producer of graphics pre-printed linerboard in North America. It operates an integrated system, which manufactures containerboard, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging and preprinted linerboard for sale to industrial and consumer products manufacturers and corrugated box manufacturers. It produces a range of corrugated containers designed to protect, ship, store and display products made to its customers' merchandising and distribution specifications. It also converts corrugated sheets into corrugated products ranging from one-color protective cartons to point-of-purchase packaging. Corrugated packaging is used to provide protective packaging for shipment and distribution of food, paper, health and beauty and other household, consumer, commercial and industrial products and in the case of graphically enhanced corrugated packaging for retail sale, particularly in club store locations and retail sale. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services, and custom and standard automated packaging machines, offering customers turn-key instal! lation, automation, line integration and packaging solutions. It feeds linerboard and corrugated medium into corrugators, which flutes the medium to specified sizes, glues the linerboard and fluted medium together and slits and cuts the resulting corrugated paperboard into sheets to customer specifications. Its container board mills and corrugated container operations are integrated with its containerboard production used internally by its corrugated container operations. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), sales of corrugated packaging products to external customers accounted for 65.7% of its net sales.

Consumer Packaging Segment

The Company operates an integrated system of coated recycled mills and a bleached paperboard mill, which produces paperboard for its folding carton operations and third parties. The Company is a manufacturer of folding cartons in North America measured by net sales. Its folding cartons are used to package food, paper, health and beauty and other household consumer, commercial and industrial products for retail sale. It also manufactures express mail envelopes for the overnight courier industry. Folding cartons protect customers��products during shipment and distribution and employ graphics to promote them at retail. It manufactures folding cartons from recycled and virgin paperboard, laminated paperboard and substrates with specialty characteristics, such as grease masking and microwaveability. It prints, coats, die-cuts and glues the cartons to customer specifications. It ships finished cartons to customers for assembling, filling and sealing. It employs a range of offset, flexographic, gravure, backside printing, and coating and finishing technologies. It supports its customers with package development, innovation and design services and package testing services.

The Company manufactures temporary and permanent point-of-purchase displays. The Company designs, manufactures and packs temporary displays for sal! e to cons! umer products companies. These displays are used as marketing tools to support new product introductions and specific product promotions in mass merchandising stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, home improvement stores and other retail locations. It also designs, manufactures and pre-assemble permanent displays for the same categories of customers. It makes temporary displays from corrugated paperboard. It provides contract packing services, such as multi-product promotional packing and product manipulation, such as multipacks and onpacks. The Company manufactures lithographic laminated packaging for sale to its customers, which require packaging with graphics and strength characteristics.

The Company operates an integrated system of specialty recycled paperboard mills, which includes its Seven Hills Paperboard LLC (Seven Hills) joint venture. Its specialty recycled paperboard mills, excluding Seven Hills, produce paperboard for its solid fiber interior packaging converting operations and third parties, and its Seven Hills joint venture manufactures gypsum paperboard liner for sale to its joint venture partner. It sells its specialty recycled paperboard to manufacturers of solid fiber interior packaging, tubes and cores, and other paperboard products. It also converts specialty paperboard into book covers and other products. Its 65% owned subsidiary, RTS, designs and manufactures solid fiber and corrugated partitions and die-cut paperboard components. It manufactures and sells its solid fiber and corrugated partitions principally to glass container manufacturers and producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and to the automotive industry. During fiscal 2012, sales of consumer packaging products to external customers accounted for 27.5% of its net sales.

Recycling Segment

The Company�� recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations provide a strategic advantage to its mills. Its recycling operations procure recovered paper (or! recycled! fiber) for its paper mills, as well as for third parties from factories, warehouses, commercial printers, office complexes, grocery and retail stores, document storage facilities, paper converters and other wastepaper collectors. It handles a range of grades of recovered paper, including old corrugated containers, office paper, box clippings, newspaper and print shop scraps. It operates recycling facilities, which collects, sorts, grades and bales recovered paper and after sorting and baling, it transfer recovered paper to its paperboard mills for processing, or sell it to the United States manufacturers of paperboard, as well as manufacturers of tissue, newsprint, roofing products and insulation and to export markets. It also collects aluminum and plastics for resale to manufacturers of these products. Its waste reduction services extract additional recyclables from the waste stream by working with customers. In addition, it operates a nationwide fiber marketing and brokerage system, which serves regional and national accounts, as well as its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills and sells scrap materials from its converting businesses and mills. Brokerage contracts provide bulk purchasing. Its recycling facilities are located close to its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills, ensuring availability of supply with reduced shipping costs. During fiscal 2012, sales to external customers accounted for 6.8% of its net sales.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    Boring doesn't always mean "buy"
    You may have heard me mention recently that boring industries can often make the most profitable industries. That is generally true, but it's not a rule! This is why packaging products maker Rock-Tenn (NYSE: RKT  ) has found its way onto my "sell-now" radar.

  • [By Ray Merola]

    International Paper Co Share Price versus Competitors RockTenn (RKT), MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV), Packaging Corporation of America (PKG), and S&P 500 (March 2009-to-date)

  • [By Saibus Research]

    Consolidation has been incremental in the paper and forest products industry. In May 2012, Resolute Forest Products (RFP) (formerly AbitibiBowater) announced that it had acquired 50.1% of Fibrek and acquired the remaining 49.9% in August. 2011 saw International Paper (IP) announce a hostile takeover of Temple-Inland and after offering $32/share in cash as well as the assumption of $600M of TIN's debt, IP was able to close the deal in February 2012. 2011 also saw Rock-Tenn (RKT) acquire Smurfit-Stone to create the number two player in the linerboard segment with 20% market share, trailing only International Paper's 40%. We see these moves as a prudent step to consolidation in the industry as certain types of paper such as newsprint and uncoated free sheet (office paper) are seeing falling demand due to increased use of digital resources.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Shares of MeadWestvaco have jumped 4.6% to $37.29 today at 3:36 p.m. Other paper packaging companies, however, aren’t getting a boost from the news or from Merrill’s upgrade. Shares of Rock-Tenn (RKT) have dipped 0.1% to $100.34, International Paper (IP) has ticked up 0.1% to $48.74and Packaging Corp. of America (PKG) is little changed at $65.40.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: TriStar Wellness Solutions Inc (TWSI)

TriStar Wellness Solutions, Inc., formerly Biopack Environmental Solutions Inc., incorporated on August 28, 2000, is engaged in developing, marketing and selling, NCP's Beaute de Maman product lines, which is a line of skincare and other products specifically targeted for pregnant women, as well developing the Soft and Smooth Assets. The Company supplied biodegradable food containers and industrial packaging products to multinational corporations, supermarket chains and restaurants located across North America, Europe and Asia. In May 2013, the Company acquired HemCon Medical Technologies Inc.

The Company�� priority direct-to-consumer target markets are focused on women�� health and wound care. The second core product area is directed at the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) wound care market space. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company focused the sales and marketing resources for the Beaute de Maman brand on efficient Internet portals via the brand Website and selected Web-based retailers.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Last Friday, small cap stocks Tristar Wellness Solutions Inc (OTCMKTS: TWSI) jumped 14.94% while Hybrid Coating Technologies (OTCBB: HCTI) and Bulova Technologies Group, Inc (OTCMKTS: BTGI) sank 23.53% and 13.04%, respectively. It should be mentioned that only one of these small cap stocks appears to be the subject of paid promotions or investor relations type activities. So what will these three small cap stocks do for investors this week? Here is a quick reality check to help you decide on a trading or investing strategy:

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: Weatherford International Ltd(WFT)

Weatherford International Ltd. provides equipment and services used in the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. It offers artificial lift systems, which include reciprocating rod lift systems, progressing cavity pumps, gas lift systems, hydraulic lift systems, plunger lift systems, hybrid lift systems, wellhead systems, and multiphase metering systems. The company also provides drilling services, including directional drilling, ?Secure Drilling? services, well testing, drilling-with-casing and drilling-with-liner systems, and surface logging systems; and well construction services, such as tubular running services, cementing products, liner systems, swellable products, solid tubular expandable technologies, and inflatable products and accessories. In addition, it designs and manufactures drilling jars, underreamers, rotating control devices, and other pressure-control equipment used in drilling oil and nat ural gas wells; and offers a selection of in-house or third-party manufactured equipment for the drilling, completion, and work over of oil and natural gas wells for operators and drilling contractors, as well as a line of completion tools and sand screens. Further, the company provides wireline and evaluation services; and re-entry, fishing, and thru-tubing services, as well as well abandonment and wellbore cleaning services; stimulation and chemicals, including fracturing and coiled tubing technologies, cement services, chemical systems, and drilling fluids; integrated drilling services; and pipeline and specialty services. It serves independent oil and natural gas producing companies. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jeremy Bowman]

    What: The shares of Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT  ) were getting a lift today, climbing as much as 10% after posting first-quarter results last night.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: Crown Holdings Inc (CCK)

Crown Holdings, Inc., incorporated on February 7, 2003, is engaged in designing, manufacturing and sale of packaging products for consumer goods. Its business is organized within three divisions: Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Its segments within the Americas Division are Americas Beverage and North America Food. Its segments within the European Division are European Beverage and European Food. Americas Beverage includes beverage can operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia and Mexico. North America Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in the United States and Canada. European Beverage includes beverage can operations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. European Food includes food can and metal vacuum closure operations in Europe and Africa. Its Asia Pacific Division consists of beverage and non-beverage can operations, primarily food cans and specialty packaging. As of December 31, 2012, it acquired Superior Multi-Packaging Ltd.

The Company supplies beverage cans and ends and other packaging products to a range of beverage and beer companies, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Cott Beverages, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Heineken, National Beverage and Pepsi-Cola, among others. The Company manufactures a range of food cans and ends, including two-and three-piece cans in numerous shapes and sizes, and sells food cans to food marketers, such as Bonduelle, Cecab, ConAgra, Continentale, Mars, Simmons Foods, Nestle, Princes Group and Stockmeyer, among others.

The Company offers a range of metal vacuum closures and sealing equipment. The Company�� customers for aerosol cans and ends include manufacturers of personal care, food, household and industrial products, including Colgate Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Unilever, among others. The Company�� customers for aerosol cans and ends include manufacturers of personal care, food, household and industrial products, including Colgate Palmolive, Procte! r & Gamble, SC Johnson and Unilever, among others.

Americas Division

The Americas Division includes operations in the United States, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, Colombia and Mexico. These operations manufacture beverage, food and aerosol cans and ends, specialty packaging and metal vacuum closures and caps. The Americas Beverage segment manufactures aluminum beverage cans and ends and steel crowns, referred to as bottle caps. The North America Food segment manufactures steel and aluminum food cans and ends and metal vacuum closures.

European Division

The European Division includes operations in Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. These operations manufacture beverage, food and aerosol cans and ends, specialty packaging and metal vacuum closures and caps. The European Beverage segment manufactures steel and aluminum beverage cans and ends. The European Food segment manufactures steel and aluminum food cans and ends, and metal vacuum closures.

Asia Pacific division

The Company's Asia Pacific Division consists of beverage can operations in Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam and non-beverage can operations, primarily including food cans and specialty packaging in China, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. As of December 31, 2012, the division operated 32 plants in six countries.

The Company competes with Ardagh Group, Ball Corporation, BWAY Corporation, Can-Pack S.A., Metal Container Corporation, Mivisa Envases S.A.U., Rexam PLC and Silgan Holdings Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Crown Holdings Inc.(CCK) cut its third-quarter earnings guidance on lower end-user demand in some of the food-and-beverage packaging company’s markets, including European food cans and North American beverage cans.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: Weyerhaeuser Company(WY)

Weyerhaeuser Company, a forest products company, grows and harvests trees, builds homes, and manufactures forest products worldwide. It grows and harvests trees for use as lumber, other wood and building products, and pulp and paper. The company manages 6.4 million acres of private commercial forestland; and has long-term licenses on 13.9 million acres of forestland. It also offers timber; minerals, such as rock, sand, and gravel, as well as oil and gas to construction and energy markets; logs; timberland tracts; and seed and seedlings, poles, plywood, and hardwood lumber products. In addition, the company provides structural lumber products for structural framing; engineered lumber products for floor and roof joists, and headers and beams; structural panels for structural sheathing, subflooring, and stair treading for wood products dealers, do-it-yourself retailers, builders, and industrial users. Further, it offers building products comprising cedar, decking, siding, ins ulation, rebar, and engineered lumber connectors. Additionally, the company offers fluff pulp for use in sanitary disposable products; papergrade pulp for printing and writing papers, and tissues; specialty chemical cellulose pulp for use in textiles, absorbent products, specialty packaging, and high-bulking fibers; liquid packaging board converted into containers; and slush and wet lap pulp for manufacturing paper products. It also constructs single-family houses, as well as develops residential lots and land for construction and sale; and master-planned communities with mixed-use property. The company sells its cellulose fibers products through direct sales network, and liquid packaging products directly to carton and food product packaging converters; and wood products through sales organizations and distribution facilities. Weyerhaeuser Company has been elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Federal Way, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rick Munarriz]

    Finally, we have Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY  ) stakeholders knocking on wood. The timberlands manager is boosting its quarterly dividend 18% to $0.20 a share. Weyerhaeuser has juiced up its distributions by 33% since last summer.

  • [By Matt DiLallo]

    Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY  ) �is also enjoying this strong�momentum�as its profit more than tripled and its wood products business saw its strongest quarterly earnings since 2005. The only�subpar�news came from its homebuilding business, which didn't fare as well. However, it still experienced solid traffic and a steady increase in the average selling price of its homes.

  • [By Holly LaFon]

    Pimco managing director Mark Kiesel mentions Whirlpool (WHR), Weyerhaeuser (WY), USG (USG), Toll Brothers (TOLL) and KB Home (KBH) as good plays on housing:�

Hot Paper Companies To Watch In Right Now: Fibria Celulose SA (FBR)

Fibria Celulose S.A. (Fibria), formerly Votorantim Celulose e Papel S.A., incorporated on July 25, 1941, is a producer of market pulp. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Fibria produced 5,054 kilotons of eucalyptus pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel). The Company also produces coated and uncoated paper, carbonless paper and thermal paper at its Piracicaba paper mill, located in the State of Sao Paulo with an annual production capacity of 190 kilotons. During 2010, it produced 115 kilotons of paper products and recorded consolidated net revenues. Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp at three pulp mills, the Aracruz pulp mill located in the State of Espirito Santo, which has an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons; the Tres Lagoas pulp mill located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, which has an annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons, and the Jacarei pulp mill located in the State of Sao Paulo, which has an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons. The Company has a 50% interest in Veracel, which owns and operates a pulp mill in the municipality of Eunapolis, State of Bahia, with an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons.

Pulp

Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp from planted eucalyptus trees. Bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp is a range of hardwood pulp. Eucalyptus is a hardwood tree, and its pulp has short fibers and is generally suited to manufacturing tissue, coated and uncoated printing and writing paper and coated packaging boards. Short fibers are optimal for manufacturing wood-free paper with good printability, smoothness, brightness and uniformity. Market pulp is the pulp sold to producers of paper products. Kraft pulp is pulp produced in a chemical process using sulphate. During 2010, it produced 5,054 kilotons of pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel).

Paper

During 2010, Fibria produced 115 kilotons of paper. The Company produced coated printing an! d writing paper, which is a coated woodfree paper used for promotional materials, folders, internal sheets and cover of magazines, books, tabloids, inserts and mailing; uncoated printing and writing paper, which is a uncoated woodfree paper in reels and sheets; carbonless paper, which is used to produce multi-copy forms, POS, invoices and other applications in place of traditional carbon paper, and thermal paper, which is traditionally used in fax machines; POS, bar code labels, toll tickets, water and gas bills and receipts for automated teller machines (ATMs) and credit card machines. It manufactures thermal paper products with technology licensed byOji Paper Co., Ltd (Oji Paper).

The Company competes with APRIL, Arauco, APP, Georgia Pacific, CMPC, Sodra, Stora Enso, Weyerhaeuser and Suzano.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Fibria Celulose (NYSE: FBR  ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Fibria Celulose met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

Hot India Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Let us first understand what exactly is insider trading. Insider trading is the trading of equity shares or other securities such as bonds or stock options by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company. And insider trading is not limited to insiders only. This is very much conducted by the outsiders and that too, in more organized way. These outsiders glean non-public and price sensitive information with the help of insiders and trade on the same.

All this is very well known. Then, where is the system lacking to curb this illegal trading? It is not like India does not have regulation. Enforcement of prohibitions on insider trading has introduced long back in 1992 in India. The problem lies in proper prosecution. According to SEBI's annual report for 2010-11, the equity market regulator took up investigations in 28 insider trading cases and completed 15 during the year. In the case of insider trading, it is difficult to prosecute the guilty because the India regulator has not given enough teeth. Unlike USA, here Indian regulator does not have access to call records among other things. They cannot do wiretapping which is very crucial to make a case against guilty. Had Mr Rajat Gupta committed the crime of insider trading in India, he may have gone scot-free. In the US, prosecutors used details of telephone conversations and emails to convince jurors that Gupta had leaked boardroom secrets to his former friend, hedge fund manager Mr Raj Rajaratnam.

10 Best Growth Stocks For 2015: Tata Motors Ltd(TTM)

Tata Motors Limited, an automobile company, engages in the manufacture and sale of commercial and passenger vehicles primarily in India. The company offers cars, utility vehicles, trucks, buses and coaches, and defense vehicles, as well as develops electric and hybrid vehicles for personal and public transportation. It also involves in distributing and marketing cars; and financing the vehicles sold by the company. In addition, the company engages in the provision of engineering and automotive solutions, as well as machine tools and factory automation solutions; construction equipment manufacturing; automotive vehicle components manufacturing and supply chain activities; tooling and plastic and electronic components for automotive and computer applications; and automotive retailing and service operations. It offers its products and services through its dealership, sales, services, and spare parts network. The company also markets its commercial and passenger vehicles in Eu rope, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, South Asia, and South America. The company was formerly known as Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company Limited and changed its name to Tata Motors Limited in July 2003. Tata Motors Limited was founded in 1945 and is based in Mumbai, India.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Justin Loiseau]

    Tesla's good fortune mirrors that of Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM  ) in 2008, when the Indian automaker bought Ford's (NYSE: F  ) floundering Jaguar Land Rover company for a paltry $2.3 billion. And just like Tata, Tesla is hoping to maximize sales in the luxury vehicle department. In April alone, Jaguar sales clocked in at 4,710 units while Land Rover roared ahead with 23,790 units sold. Sales are up 12.2% year over year, and the company enjoyed more than 30% growth in the UK and Asia Pacific.

Hot India Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd(RDY)

Dr. Reddy?s Laboratories Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a pharmaceutical company. It produces finished dosage forms, active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates, and biotechnology products. The company also conducts research in the areas of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, inflammation, and bacterial infection. In addition, it involves in the contract manufacture generic prescription and over-the-counter products for branded and generic companies in the United States. The company primarily focuses on therapeutic categories of cardiovascular, diabetes management, gastro-intestinal, and pain management. It markets its products in India, the United States, Europe, and the Russian Federation. The company has a co-development and commercialization agreement with Rheoscience A/S for the development and commercialization of Balaglitazone/DRF 2593, a partial PPAR-gamma agonist for the treatment of type 2 diabetes; an agreement with ClinTec Internatio nal for the development of an anti-cancer compound, DRF 1042; collaboration with the National Cancer Institute in Maryland; and an agreement with Argenta Discovery Limited for the joint development and commercialization of a novel approach to the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It also has an agreement with 7TM Pharma for drug discovery collaboration on selected drug targets; and an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc to develop and market pharmaceuticals for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, oncology, gastroenterology, and pain management. Dr. Reddy?s Laboratories Limited was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Hyderabad, India.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Benjamin Shepherd] We’re now into day 15 of the US government shutdown, as House Republicans stubbornly try to defund Obamacare. No matter what sort of deal is eventually struck, health care costs aren’t likely to come down any time soon. And that’s good news for generic drug makers.

    Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) is one of the biggest players in generic drugs, offering more than 200 off-brand medications in the areas of cardiovascular disease, pain management and oncology, among others. In fact, this India-based company has become one of the largest makers of generics in the world, helping to drive more than 20 percent annual compounded earnings growth at the company over the past decade.
  • [By Dan Carroll]

    The company's generic drug segment should also help push emerging market sales. Abbott markets generic pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. only, and while the division isn't growth-oriented -- sales actually fell around 2% for the quarter -- it provides an entry for the company to push into lucrative new markets such as India, where generics make up the large majority of the country's retail market. The company will face tougher competition in this industry, however: Firms such as India-based Dr. Reddy's (NYSE: RDY  ) have also pushed hard into emerging markets lately, and Dr. Reddy's in particular should benefit from its being headquartered in one of the industry's top locales.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.52 per share.

    YuMe (NYSE: YUME) is estimated to post a Q1 loss at $0.15 per share on revenue of $35.36 million.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE: RDY  ) reported earnings on May 14. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q4), Dr. Reddy's Laboratories beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Hot India Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Infosys Technologies Limited(INFY)

Infosys Ltd. provides information technology (IT) and consulting services worldwide. It offers IT services, such as application, architecture, independent validation and testing, information management, infrastructure, packaged application, SOA, systems integration, and knowledge services; product engineering services, manufacturing process and plant solutions, and product lifecycle management services; and consulting services in the areas of information and technology strategies, product innovation, next generation commerce, process excellence, and learning and complex change. The company also provides business process outsourcing solutions in the areas of business platforms, customer service outsourcing, finance and accounting, human resources outsourcing, legal services, sales and fulfillment, and sourcing and procurement outsourcing. In addition, it offers collaborative analytics solutions; digital consumer platform; Finacle universal banking solution; iProwe, a Web ac cessibility assessment product; mConnect, a real-time enterprise middleware; and research and analytical support services. Further, the company offers unified communications and collaboration solution that streamlines business processes between employees, customers, and suppliers; iTransform that helps healthcare organizations accelerate transition to new platforms; and supply chain visibility and collaboration product suite. It serves aerospace and defense, airlines, automotive, banking, capital markets, communication services, consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, education, energy, healthcare, high technology, hospitality and leisure, insurance, life sciences, logistics and distribution, publishing, resources, utilities, and retail industries. Infosys Ltd. has a strategic partnership with Alstom SA. The company was formerly known as Infosys Technologies Limited and changed its name to Infosys Ltd. on June 16, 2011. Infosys Ltd. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered i n Bengaluru, India.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Overall, the most popular emerging market ETFs experienced much sharper declines than the less-than-1% drop the Dow posted this week. Vanguard Emerging Markets (NYSEMKT: VWO  ) and iShares Emerging Markets (NYSEMKT: EEM  ) were both down just under 3% for the week. But when you drill down to look for particular culprits in the emerging markets, you don't have to look very far to find that it was generally a broad-based decline:

    In China, more concerns about a slowdown in the manufacturing industry put pressure on stocks. The Shanghai index didn't move much, but one key ETF tracking the Chinese market sank nearly 4% in response to the news, largely on weakness in telecom giant China Mobile (NYSE: CHL  ) , which plays a commanding role in many emerging market-focused ETFs.
    � Indian stocks suffered from some of the same macroeconomic issues, with the Bombay market's index down about 3% and ETF tracking the market falling 4% to 5%. The Indian finance minister responded to the decline, which many blamed on Fed Chair Ben Bernanke's comments, by saying, "We think that Bernanke's statement has been misunderstood or misinterpreted." Yet that didn't seem to appease investors in outward-directed industries like Infosys (NYSE: INFY  ) , whose IT offerings require health activity levels not just in India but in the U.S. and other customer-heavy countries as well.
    � Stocks in Mexico suffered declines of almost 5%, retracing some ground after an extraordinarily strong stretch of gains on optimism about the country's ability to reinvigorate its economy beyond its core reliance on petroleum and to resolve ongoing conflicts with drug cartels.

    But there were some relatively bright spots in other emerging markets. Brazilian stocks were actually up a bit on the week, as the nation found itself better insulated from all the happenings in Asia related to China and Japan. Russian stocks also remained relatively stable,

Hot India Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Stewart Information Services Corporation(STC)

Stewart Information Services Corporation provides title insurance and related information services required for settlement by the real estate and mortgage industries. It operates in two segments, Title Insurance-Related Services and Real Estate Information. The Title Insurance-Related Services segment offers services that include searching for and examining documents, such as deeds, mortgages, wills, divorce decrees, court judgments, liens, paving assessments, and tax records, as well as provides titles insurance for residential and commercial properties, undeveloped acreage, farms, ranches, and water rights. This segment serves attorneys, builders, developers, home buyers and home sellers, lenders, and real estate brokers. The Real Estate Information segment offers products and services, which primarily include lender services, title technology, foreign and domestic government services, mapping, title information, Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 tax-deferred property e xchanges, pre-employment services, and online filing and transaction management. Its customers include mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, mortgage investors, government entities, commercial and residential real estate agents, land developers, builders, title insurance agencies, and others interested in obtaining property information, as well as accountants, attorneys, investors, and employers. The company has operations primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, central Europe, Mexico, central America, and Australia. Stewart Information Services Corporation was founded in 1893 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Tower Group has dropped 40% to $4.43 today, and some other small insurers are also getting dinged this morning. HCI Group (HCI) has fallen 1.8% to $39.36, Stewart Information Services (STC) has declined 0.7% to $31.36 and the Navigators Group (NAVG) has ticked down 0.4% to $56.10.

  • [By James Fink]

    My housing pick is Houston-based Stewart Information Services (STC), a 120-year-old real estate business founded in 1893, that is still owned and managed by the founding family.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Tower Group has dropped 12% to $3.88 today at 11:39 a.m., while Stewart Information Services (STC) has dipped 0.1% to $31.16, the�Navigators Group�(NAVG) has fallen 1.4% to $54.78 and HCI Group�(HCI) has gained 1% to $38.16.

Hot India Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Sify Technologies Limited(SIFY)

Sify Technologies Limited provides enterprise and consumer Internet services primarily in India. The company offers various corporate network/data services comprising e-commerce and network connectivity solutions, such as end-to-end services network, application, and security services; voice origination and termination services; co-location and managed hosting services; and system integration services for data centre build, hardware distribution, security solutions, and turnkey projects. It also provides application services, including SLEMS and Microsoft Exchange messaging platforms; I-test for online assessment and LiveWire, which enable management of training processes across the organization; document management system for the management of documents electronically; and Forum, a forward supply chain solution. In addition, the company operates e-Ports that offer browsing, chat, email, gaming, utility bill payment, travel ticketing, hotel booking, mobile recharge, Intern et telephony, and online share trading services; and portals, which provide news, views, reviews, interactions, and services in the areas of movies, sports, finance, food, videos, astrology, online games, shopping, and travel, as well as offers content offerings and broadband services. Further, it provides infrastructure management services, such as network management, datacenter and helpdesk outsourcing, desktop and storage outsourcing, IT security outsourcing, LAN and WAN outsourcing, database and telecom outsourcing, and application monitoring and management services to automotive, chemical, media, and financial enterprises; and virtualization design, integration, and deployment services for servers, storage, networks, and end user clients. Sify has approximately 1,278 e-Ports in 200 towns and cities; and serves 1,06,000 broadband subscribers through 1500 cable TV Operators. The company, formerly known as Sify Limited, was founded in 1995 and is based in Chennai, India. Advisors' Opinion:

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Leading and Lagging Sectors
    Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY).

Friday, June 27, 2014

Why South Africa Is A Key Player In the Global Market

Related SAB Morning Market Movers Benzinga's Small Cap Movers for Monday November 19, 2012 Related CFRUY Richemont Posts 9% Rise In Holiday Sales Richemont Posts Upbeat H1 Profit

Paul Theron knows that South Africa is an exciting new frontier for companies.

In the second half of the last decade, the region has been home to an emerging market, consumer-driven success story.

Theron is the founder and principal of Vestact, an asset-management firm is based Johannesburg, South Africa. He was recently a guest on Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep show, where he shared his insights on South African markets, gold, bitcoin and more.

Theron and his team manage money for South African investors on Johannesburg's local stock exchange, which is roughly the 14th largest exchange in the world, Theron said.

Vestact also manages money in the United States for South African clients who invest in U.S. stocks. Theron said about two-thirds of Vestact's investments are in Johannesburg markets, and about one-third are in the U.S. markets.

Related: How One Startup Quadrupled Its Size In 9 Months

“In fact, that's kind of changing,” he said. “The U.S. investment in South Africa is growing a little bit faster because South Africans are becoming more world-wise and more and more of them want to have investments globally as well as in South Africa.”

As Theron pointed out, many companies that are big global players also have South African roots, including SABMiller (OTC: SBMRY), Compagnie Financière Richemont (OTC: CFRUY) and BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP).

“Some of our big companies are, in fact, held in global capital markets,” he said.

Patience is a virtue

Vestact's portfolio performance has outperformed the JSE Africa All Share Index by a wide margin over five- and ten-year periods. Theron identified two factors that has enabled his firm to do this.

First, rising commodity prices and high growth in the retail and food production sectors in the last decade have led to the success of the Johannesburg markets overall. Second, Vestact's portfolio has focused on sub-sectors of the markets that have done particularly well, like technology and healthcare.

“I think just by being patient,” he said. “We like taking long term stakes in market leaders in growing part of the economy. That's basically the formula.”

Resource-rich country

South Africa was the world's largest gold producer in the 1960s and 1970s, Theron said. But what's happened recently with the South African gold mines is that they have become progressively deeper since the high-level, easy-to-access grids and resource bodies have been worked out.

The result is that gold producers are not a particularly exciting part of markets in South Africa anymore, Theron said. Most of the large gold companies, like AngloGold Ashanti Limited (NYSE: AU) and Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI), have internationalized their operations, he said, but still have a footprint in South Africa.

Related: 1,000 Ounces Of Gold Recovered In Marine Exploration

Vestact largely avoids the gold sector, and Theron said that policy has served the company well. He said gold producers are quite “twitchy,” where they do well for a while and then don't do well again.

“For me, the gold sector and the whole idea that the gold price is going to benefit from hyper inflation and economic difficulties in the world -- that's not something I'm really inspired by,” he said.

The bitcoin pipe dream

Theron considers himself more of a conservative, regular sort of guy, and he's not really interested in bitcoin.

Instead, Theron suggests investing in something like Visa (NYSE: V), because it's real money moving between real financial institutions.

“Small amounts of money being made on a multitude of transactions -- that is the real world,” he said. “The bitcoin seems like a pipe dream.”

Check out Theron's interview here:

Posted-In: #premarket Benzinga #PreMarket Prep Bitcoin Emerging Markets Gold Johannesburg Paul Theron Premarket PreMarket Prep South Africa VestactNews Emerging Markets Commodities Success Stories Be Your Own Boss Markets Interview General Best of Benzinga

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Hot Wireless Telecom Stocks For 2015

Hot Wireless Telecom Stocks For 2015: TechnoConcepts Inc (TCPS)

TechnoConcepts, Inc. (TCI), incorporated in May 2003, is in the business of designing, developing, manufacturing and marketing wireless communications semiconductors. The Company has begun manufacturing wireless transmitter and receiver microchips, based on its technology, and produced its engineering run in August 2006. The technology, which TCI calls True Software Radio, is designed to improve the way that wireless signals are received and transmitted, by making possible device-to-device communication across otherwise incompatible networks and wireless standards. On October 17, 2005, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Asante Acquisition Corp. completed reorganization with RegalTech Inc. RegalTech's name was changed to Asante Networks Inc. (Asante).

In December 2005, the Company formed Jinshilin Techno Ltd. (Jinshilin Techno) as its wholly owned subsidiary based in Shanghai, China. The Company organized Jinshilin Techno to provide marketing, sa les and technical support for True Software Radio technology in China. On April 21, 2006, Jinshilin Techno acquired Internet television (IPTV) set-top box (STB) technology through license agreements with Jinshilin Technologies Development Company Ltd. (Jinshilin). Jinshilin Techno offers an IPTV set-top box that features voice over Internet protocol (VOIP), capability and can receive Internet protocol (IP) data transmissions through the household electrical power grid.

Asante Networks Inc. provides Ethernet networking solutions for Apple Computer and the small-to-medium business retail markets, offering the IntraCore and FriendlyNET product families, integrating voice, data, and video over wireless and wired networks with unified management and authentication. In April 2006, Asante announced the release of 2-chip switch solution, the IntraCore 38480. The IntraCor! e 38480 provides no frame loss and full-wire speed with minimized latency. With 96-gigabit switching fabric, the IntraCore 38480 supports full-wire speed on all ! ports. It has advanced traffic control based on L2-L7 data of incoming frames.

The Company's True Software Radio technology makes possible for wireless transmitters and receivers, as well as the radio signal processing, to be fully controlled and reconfigured by software commands across a range of frequencies and frequency bands. Its True Software Radio technology is a delta-sigma microchip architecture that converts radio frequency signals directly into digital data for the wireless receiver and directly from digital data into radio signals for the wireless transmitter. True Software Radio microchips replace the analog front end, intermediate frequency (I/F) processing, analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), and digital filtering sections of conventional wireless transmitters and receivers.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap tech stocks TechnoConcepts, Inc (OTCMKTS: TCPS), Unisource Corporation (OTCMKTS: USRC) and Strategic Global Investments, Inc (OTCMKTS: STBV) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters thanks to promotions. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed promotions, but they can backfire on the unwary as its really up to investors or traders alike to do their own due diligence before investing or trading. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about three small cap tech stocks getting a bit of attention lately:

    TechnoConcepts, Inc (OTCMKTS: TCPS) Has the Yield Sign Replaced on Its OTC Page

    Small cap TechnoConcepts is a wireless technology company currently holding patents and other intellectual property. On Friday, TechnoConcepts fell 0.45% to $15.58 for a market cap of $415.28 million plus TCPC is up 1.1% over the past year and up 6% since April 2012 according to Google Finance.

  • s! ource fro! m Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-wireless-telecom-stocks-for-2015.html

Top 10 Cheap Companies To Buy For 2014

Fast-food behemoth Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM  ) wowed investors a few months back when it reported great sales figures driven by an unlikely suspect: Taco Bell. The news sparked a wave of discussion on topics ranging from whether the company has a genius marketing campaign to whether it's fueling the U.S. diabetes epidemic. Whatever your opinion, Taco Bell's recent efforts have led the company in an otherwise difficult market. For the recently completed quarter, Yum! saw a tremendous drop-off in profit from its China division. Though it beat the Street on earnings, internal comps are down compared to the year-ago quarter. Here's what you need to know about Yum! going forward.

Earnings recap
Starting at the bottom, EPS came in at $0.70 for the parent company behind Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. This arrives ahead of Wall Street's estimates, but also represents an 8% slip from the prior year's numbers. Top-line revenues came in at $2.54 billion -- short of the Street, and again, an 8% drop from the 2012. The culprit was quickly and easily identifiable: China.

Top Defensive Stocks To Watch Right Now: Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (LGND)

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated operates as a biotechnology company. It principally engages in the development and acquisition of royalty revenue generating assets. The company engages in the research, milestone, and royalty revenue activities resulting from its collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. The collaborations primarily include ongoing clinical programs at Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Merck & Co., Cephalon, Inc, and Celgene. These partnered product candidates are being studied for the treatment of indications, such as thrombocytopenia, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, osteoporosis, menopausal symptoms, and Alzheimer?s disease. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated receives royalties principally on sales of Avinza from Pfizer, Promacta from GlaxoSmithKline, and Viviant /Conbriza from Pfizer. The company through its subsidiary, CyDex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., offers four marketed products, as well as has one approved product, a portfolio of partnered drug development programs, an internal pipeline of proprietary drugs, and the Captisol drug formulation platform technology. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated was formerly known as Progenx Inc. and changed its name in 1989. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in La Jolla, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jim Jubak]

    For the second stock that looks interesting, Jim Jubak agrees with Jim Oberweis, Jr., editor of The Oberweis Report. Oberweis thinks that the healthcare sector, in particular, Ligand (LGND), is set to boom in the coming year.

  • [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

    Workday Inc. (WDAY) jumped 9.3 percent in early New York trading after predicting quarterly revenue that surpassed estimates. Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LGND) advanced 3 percent after the market close yesterday as S&P said the company will replace SHFL Entertainment Inc. in its index tracking smaller companies. Nuance Communications Inc. (NUAN) tumbled 7.5 percent in Germany after forecasting full-year sales that missed analysts��projections.

Hot Up And Coming Companies To Buy For 2014: Otter Tail Corporation(OTTR)

Otter Tail Corporation engages in electric and nonelectric operations in the United States and internationally. It operates in six segments: Electric, Plastics, Manufacturing, Health Services, Food Ingredient Processing, and Other Business Operations. The Electric segment includes the production, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy through coal, wind, hydro, natural gas, and oil in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. As of December 31, 2009, it provided electricity to approximately 130,900 customers, including residential, industrial, commercial, and other customers. This segment also operates as a wholesale participant in the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator markets. The Plastics segment involves in producing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes. The Manufacturing segment engages in the production of wind towers; contract machining; metal parts stamping and fabrication; production of waterfront equipment; and material and handling tray s, and horticultural containers. The Health Services segment sells diagnostic medical equipment, patient monitoring equipment, and related supplies and accessories. This segment also provides equipment maintenance service and diagnostic imaging services; and involves in the rental of diagnostic medical imaging equipment to various medical institutions. The Food Ingredient Processing segment produces dehydrated potato products. The Other Business Operations segment engages in residential, commercial, and industrial electric contracting; fiber optic and electric distribution systems; water, wastewater, and HVAC systems construction; and transportation and energy services businesses. The company was formerly known as Otter Tail Holding Company and changed its name to Otter Tail Corporation in 2001. Otter Tail Corporation was founded in 1907 and is based in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Dividend]

    Otter Tail (OTTR) has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion. The company employs 2,286 people, generates revenue of $859.24 million and has a net income of $38.97 million. Otter Tail�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $142.22 million. The EBITDA margin is 16.55 percent (the operating margin is 8.02 percent and the net profit margin 4.54 percent).

  • [By Richard Stavros]

    In examining the top two stock sellers and top two stock buyers listed above, we illustrate how these companies are managing their efforts to return cash to shareholders (See Chart C). The chart clearly shows that those firms that were making stock buybacks had better shareholder yields than those that were making stock issuances, namely Otter Tail Corp (NYSE: OTTR) and The AES Corp (NYSE: AES).

  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Electric utility holding company Otter Tail (OTTR) raised its quarterly dividend 1.6% to 30.25 cents per share, payable on Mar. 10 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 14.
    OTTR Dividend Yield: 4.47%

Hot Up And Coming Companies To Buy For 2014: Ark Restaurants Corp. (ARKR)

Ark Restaurants Corp., through its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership and operation of restaurants and bars, fast food concepts, and catering operations. As of October 2, 2010, it owned and operated 22 restaurants and bars, including 9 facilities located in New York City; 4 in Washington, D.C.; 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada; 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey; 1 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut; and 1 in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as had 29 fast food concepts and catering operations. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Bram de Haas]

    Ark Restaurants Corp (ARKR) owns and operates 19 restaurants and bars, 22 fast food concepts and catering operations in the USA. This is a short article outlining why they are an interesting company to put on the buy list. It needs to be said, this is not a chain that can roll out their concept or brand nationwide and enjoy terrific growth of their franchise. They chose not to build up brands and instead operate under trade names that suit the unique locations they prefer. The reason that I want to highlight this small company is that in recent years they have faced numerous challenges and adversity (aside from those posed by the general economy) and it's possible they have dealt with the majority, and free cash flow will enjoy a significant uptick in the next two years.

  • [By Geoff Gannon] ght them - and even now - I think their return on buyback would be high and I'd be in favor of it. However, the stocks are illiquid and their free cash flow relative to the dollar value of freely traded shares is not high. As a result, I'm always in favor of RSKIA and ARKR buying back stock. But, I understand it's very hard for them to do in practice unless there is a meaningful holder who signals he wants out of the stock.

    My approach to buybacks is pretty simple. One, I prefer them. Two, I look at the share count history over the last 10 to 20 years as my guide to what the company might do in the future - I want a pattern of predictable behavior. Generally, that means a continuously shrinking share count that shrinks in bull markets and bear markets, panics and recessions and booms and busts and so on. Three, if I'm a buyer of the stock - then the company should be a buyer of its own stock. No questions asked on that one. If the stock is good enough for me to buy it's clearly good enough for the company to buy. Finally, I look for the return on buyback. I tend to focus on the earning power the company is buying relative to the net cash it is spending. If a company has cash on its balance sheet, the amount of net cash consumed by a buyback will be less than it appears because I will end up with a greater percentage ownership of the resulting balance sheet as well as the income statement.

    I want the return on buyback to always be at least 10%. As a rule, the average company will only get returns on its buybacks of 10% or higher if it pays less than 15 times normal earnings. In special cases - fast growing companies, companies where free cash flow vastly exceeds reported income, etc. - it is possible that buybacks above 15 times earnings will return more than 10%. It almost never makes sense for a company to buy back stock at over 25 times earnings. So, for most companies, under 15 times earnings is the green zone for buybacks - 15 to 25 times earnings is

Hot Up And Coming Companies To Buy For 2014: S&W Seed Company(SANW)

S&W Seed Company engages in contracting the production of alfalfa seed varieties, processing the seeds, and marketing the certified seed to agribusiness firms and farmers worldwide. It also involves in the production of stevia leaf. The company primarily offers high fall dormancy (FD) alfalfa seed varieties, as well as markets and sells other varieties, including FD 7, 6, and 4 varieties. It sells the seed primarily to dealers and distributors who, in turn, sell primarily to hay and dairy farmers who grow hay for dairy cattle and other livestock; and through brokers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Five Points, California.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Glenwoods]

    �PureCircle does not grow its own product, but is more of a holding company as it contracts farms scattered around the globe to grow stevia to certain specifications.� One such farm is the S&W SEED Co. (NASDAQ:SANW).� Toward the end of 2011, PureCircle, with a goal of developing stevia in the U.S. for the U.S market, entered into a five-year agreementwith the California-based grower of high-yield alfalfa seeds, to grow stevia to the company�� specifications.� Unfortunately the results have not matched expectationsas reported by S&W Seed:

Hot Up And Coming Companies To Buy For 2014: NTN Buzztime Inc (NTN)

NTN Buzztime, Inc. (Buzztime), incorporated in 1984, is an interactive entertainment network. The Company provides media, advertising and consumer marketing services. The Company's games, as of December 31, 2011, were available in over 3,900 locations in the United States and Canada, where they are shown on approximately 20,000 screens daily. The Company has over 2.4 million registered users and over 52 million games is played each year. The Company generates revenues by charging subscription fees for its service to its Network Subscribers and also from the sale of advertising aired on in-venue screens, as well as in conjunction with customized games. Approximately 34% of the Company's Network Subscriber venues, as of December 31, 2011, were related to national and regional restaurants and includes Wild Wings, Black Angus, Hooters, Native New Yorker and Old Chicago. In October 2011, the Company acquired the Stump! Trivia hosted live trivia business.

The Company's Buzztime Network system uses a 900 mega hertz (MHz) wireless Playmaker, a hand-held radio frequency device with a monochrome liquid crystal display (LCD) display and sealed keypad that players use to enter choices and selections. The Playmakers have been manufactured primarily by a non-affiliated manufacturer in Taiwan and are a rugged combination of hardware and firmware optimized for hospitality environments. The Company also offers the Buzztime Mobile Playmaker, an application that allows its players to interact in-venue with its game content using iPhones, iPod Touches and Android phones. The Company's primary product is the distribution of a variety of multi-player interactive games that entertain and challenge a player's skill and knowledge while prompting the customer of the hospitality venue.

The Company provides premium trivia competitions during evening hours, particularly in the restaurants and sports bars. In addition to game interaction, other consumer features available on the Playmaker include player ! chat and real-time sports scores transmitted directly to the units.

The Company has developed and produced a number of interactive sports games, including predicts the Play sports games. Predict the Play sports games call for participants to predict the outcome of events before they happen, primarily in an intensive play-by-play method. One such game in this category is QB1, a live, play-along football game. In addition to the Company's Predict the Play games, the Company offers a series of pre-event prediction games. Race Day consists of two game play components: one predictive before the race and one trivia during the race.

The Company offers a suite of Playmaker only games. This suite of games is independent of the Buzztime Network and they are played directly on the Company's wireless Playmakers rather than on one of the television screens in the hospitality venue. As of December 31, 2011, the Company has Playmaker Poker, Acey Duecey, Crystal Ball and Shark Attack Playmaker only games.

The Company competes with Touchtunes Interactive Networks, The Answer Is . . . Productions Inc. and Livewire/Incredible Technologies, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Damian Illia]

    Another initiative introduced in the guest experience business model is the installment of tablets in all of its restaurants to provide exclusive social gaming opportunities. Teaming up with NTN Buzztime Inc. (NTN) Buffalo uses Beond tablets to allow guests order food and drinks, play games, and pay their bill. Also, the three-year collaboration with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has enabled the company to be an authorized hangout for the NCAA March Madness sports series, increasing visibility as a brand and attracting more customers to their outlets. These efforts, along with more intense advertising initiatives, new point-of-sales programs, improved supply chain and remodeling of its restaurants are expected to boost sales, and strengthen the business in the long run. Buffalo Wild Wings has selected the NCR Corp. (NCR) Aloha Online Ordering solution for its locations to help drive its takeout ordering business. The NCR technology will enable Buffalo to handle both on and off-premise transactions within one system.

  • [By abirk]

    On March 6, 2014, Buffalo Wild Wings announced its partnership with NTN Buzztime Inc. (NTN) to bring the company's BEOND tablet-based entertainment platform to all of their North America restaurant locations by the end of 2015. Buzztime's BEOND tablet lets Buffalo Wild Wings Guests order food, request songs and television programming, play games (both multi-player and arcade-style), and pay the bill.

Hot Up And Coming Companies To Buy For 2014: Essential Innovations Technology Corp (ESIV)

Essential Innovations Technology Corp., incorporated on April 4, 2001, is a development-stage company, focused towards research and development, commercialization and market entry strategies for the intellectual property that it has acquired in regards to multiple green and environmental technology applications such as fluid heating, electricity generation and water treatment/purification.

The Company will focus its activities on development and commercialization of two primary technologies. The first technology is a method for the design of equipment used in the heating of a variety of fluids such as oil, water (to steam). The second technology is a method for the combined mechanical heating and transport of fluids. As of October 31, 2011, the Company had no operations. As of October 31, 2011, the Company had no revenue.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap green stocks Essential Innovations Technology Corp (OTCBB: ESIV), Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW) and Kleangas Energy Technologies Inc (OTCMKTS: KGET) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters ��either because they were sinking, because of paid promotions or a combination of both. However, there aren�� many green stocks out there that have actually produced some green for investors in the form of profits. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about all three green small cap stocks to help you decide whether any have the potential for long-term success:

    Essential Innovations Technology Corp (OTCBB: ESIV) Announces New Distribution Agreements

    Small cap Essential Innovations Technology Corp aims to provide eco-friendly lifestyle enhancement solutions for the betterment of energy, water, air and health as the company holds the exclusive global manufacturing, distribution and applications rights to the ��ximius Technologies - Extraordinary solutions for an ever-changing World.' On Friday, Essential Innovations Technology Corp sank 22.79% to $0.0525 for a market cap of $909,953 plus ESIV is up 4,275% over the past year and up 50% over the past five years according to Google Finance.