Friday, October 31, 2014

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014

Following hedge funds hasn�� been a great strategy in recent years as most have underperformed. But as the Federal Reserve stimulus tapers off and the market slowly returns to fundamentals, the ��mart money��of Wall Street may soon again beat the broader market by double-digits.��

And hedge funds are betting that freight rates for shipping are set to soar as demand for commodities rises, according to a recent Bloomberg report. �We think they��e onto something. Shipping is an intriguing prospect, especially at a time when investing profitably in the stock markets will become tougher as the Fed stimulus ends. Here we take a look at the fundamentals of the shipping industry to see if hedge funds have truly spotted a trend.

According to Bloomberg, Ospraie Management LLC and Vermillion Asset Management LLC are ��mong the funds that are betting freight rates for shipping are set to soar��because there won�� be enough ships to handle rising �global demand for everything from iron ore and coal to grains and sugar.

Top Heal Care Stocks To Buy Right Now: Forward Air Corp (FWRD)

Forward Air Corporation operates in two segments: Forward Air, Inc. (Forward Air) and Forward Air Solutions, Inc. (FASI). Through the Company's Forward Air segment, it is a provider of time-definite surface transportation and related logistics services to the North American deferred air freight market. It offers its customers local pick-up and delivery (Forward Air Complete) and scheduled surface transportation of cargo. It transports cargo that must be delivered at a specific time but is less time-sensitive than traditional air freight. As of December 31, 2011, it operated its Forward Air segment through a network of terminals located on or near airports in 85 cities in the United States and Canada, including a central sorting facility in Columbus, Ohio and 12 regional hubs serving key markets. It also offers its customers an array of logistics and other services including expedited full truckload (TLX); dedicated fleets; warehousing; customs brokerage; and shipment consolidation, deconsolidation and handling. During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 23.9% of the freight it handled was for overnight delivery, approximately 61.3% was for delivery within two to three days and the balance was for delivery in four or more days. Through its FASI segment, it provides pool distribution services throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Southwest continental United States. Pool distribution involves managing high-frequency, last mile handling and distribution of time-sensitive product to destinations in geographic regions. In March 2013, it acquired Total Quality, Inc. In February 2014, Forward Air Corporation acquired Central States Trucking Co. and Central States Logistics, Inc. from Central States Inc.

Forward Air

The Company receives freight from air freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers and passenger and cargo airlines at its terminals, which are located on or near airports in the United States and Canada. It also picks up freight from custo! mers at designated locations via our Forward Air Complete service. It transports these shipments by truck through its network to its terminals nearest the destinations of the shipments. It operates scheduled service to and from each of its terminals through its Columbus, Ohio central sorting facility or through one of its 12 regional hubs. It also operates scheduled shuttle service directly between terminals where the volume of freight warrants bypassing the Columbus, Ohio central sorting facility or a regional hub. When a shipment arrives at its terminal nearest its destination, the customer arranges for the shipment to be picked up and delivered to its final destination, or it, in the alternative, through its Forward Air Complete service, deliver the freight for the customer to its final destination. Its airport-to-airport network consists of terminals located in the 85 cities. As of December 31, 2011, independent agents and FASI operate 18 and two of its Forward Air locations.

The Company operates direct terminal-to-terminal services and regional overnight service between terminals where justified by freight volumes. It provides regional overnight service to the markets within its network. Direct shipments also reduce the likelihood of damage because of reduced handling and sorting of the freight. It operates regional hubs in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Newark, Newburgh, Orlando, and Sacramento. During 2011, the average weekly volume of freight moving through its network was approximately 34.0 million pounds per week. During 2011, its average shipment weighed approximately 717 pounds and shipment sizes ranged from small boxes weighing only a few pounds to large shipments of several thousand pounds.

The Company�� logistics and other services allow customers to access services from a single source: expedited full truckload (TLX); dedicated fleets; customs brokerage, such as assistance with the United States C! ustoms an! d Border Protection (U.S. Customs) procedures for both import and export shipments; warehousing, dock and office space; drayage and intermodal; hotshot or ad-hoc ultra expedited services, and shipment consolidation and handling, such as shipment build-up and break-down and reconsolidation of air or ocean pallets or containers.

Forward Air Solutions

Through the Company�� FASI segment, it provides pool distribution services through a network of terminals and service locations in 19 cities throughout the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest and Southwest continental United States. Pool distribution involves managing high-frequency handling and distribution of time-sensitive product to destinations in specific geographic regions. Its customers for this product are regional and nationwide distributors and retailers, such as mall, strip mall and outlet-based retail chains. Its pool distribution network consists of terminals and service locations in the 19 cities. Its Forward Air wholesale customer base is comprised of freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers and passenger and cargo airlines. Its air freight forwarder customers vary in size from independent, single facility companies to international logistics companies, such as SEKO Worldwide, AIT Worldwide Logistics, Expeditors International of Washington, Associated Global, UPS Supply Chain Solutions and Pilot Air Freight. Its FASI pool distribution customers are consisted of national and regional retailers and distributors, such as The Limited, The Marmaxx Group, The GAP, and Aeropostale. The Company also participates in air cargo and retail trade shows and advertise its services through direct mail programs and through the Internet via www.forwardair.com and www.forwardairsolutions.com.

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 Forward Air (Nasdaq: FWRD  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014: Werner Enterprises Inc (WERN)

Werner Enterprises, Inc., incorporated on September 14, 1982, is a transportation and logistics company engaged primarily in hauling truckload shipments of general commodities in both interstate and intrastate commerce. The Company also provides logistics services through its value added services (VAS) division. As of the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company had a fleet of 7,150 trucks, of which 6,505 were Company-operated and 645 were owned and operated by independent contractors. The Company operates in two segments: Truckload Transportation Services (Truckload) and VAS.

Truckload segment

The Company's Truckload segment consists of the One-Way Truckload and Specialized Services units. One-Way Truckload includes the operating fleets: the regional short-haul (Regional) fleet transports a variety of consumer nondurable products and other commodities in truckload quantities within geographic regions across the United States using dry van trailers; the medium-to-long-haul van (Van) fleet provides comparable truckload van service over irregular routes, and the expedited (Expedited) fleet provides time-sensitive truckload services utilizing driver teams.

Specialized Services provides truckload services dedicated to a specific customer, generally for a retail distribution center or manufacturing facility, including services for products requiring specialized trailers such as flatbed or temperature-controlled trailers. The Company's Truckload fleets operate throughout the 48 contiguous United States, both common and contract, granted by the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The Company also has authority to operate in several provinces of Canada and to provide through-trailer service into and out of Mexico. The principal types of freight the Company transports include retail store merchandise, consumer products, grocery products and manufactured products. The Company focuses on transporting consumer nondurable products that generally ship.

!

VAS segment

The Company's VAS segment is a non-asset-based transportation and logistics provider. VAS is consists of four operating units that provide non-trucking services to the Company's customers: truck brokerage (Brokerage) uses contracted carriers to complete customer shipments; freight management (Freight Management) offers a range of single-source logistics management services and solutions; the intermodal (Intermodal) unit offers rail transportation through alliances with rail and drayage providers as an alternative to truck transportation, and Werner Global Logistics international (WGL) provides complete management of global shipments from origin to destination using a combination of air, ocean, truck and rail transportation modes. The Company's Brokerage unit had transportation services contracts with approximately 9,400 carriers as of December 31, 2012.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Duprey]

    Transportation and logistics specialist�Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN  ) announced this morning its second-quarter dividend of $0.05 per share, the same rate it's paid since 2007.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Werner Enterprises (Nasdaq: WERN  ) reported earnings on April 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Werner Enterprises missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

  • [By Mike Deane]

    Werner Enterprises (WERN) announced its third quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, posting a 1% change in revenues from last year’s Q3, but a 15% drop in net income.

    The Omaha, NE-based logistics and transportation company announced Q3 revenue of $511.73 million, which was up slightly from last year’s $506.50 million revenue figure. WERN reported net income for the quarter of $21.53 million, or 29 cents per diluted share, which was down from last year’s Q3 earnings of $25.13 million, or 34 cents per diluted share.

    The company was able to meet analyst views of 29 cents EPS, and slightly surpass the revenue estimate of $503.82 million.

    WERN shares were up 21 cents, or 0.90%, at Thursday’s market close, but were edging lower in after-hours trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up just over 4%.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) issued a weak third-quarter profit forecast. Werner shares dropped 2.09% to $23.90 in the after-hours trading session.

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014: Echo Global Logistics Inc (ECHO)

Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (Echo) is a provider of technology enabled transportation and supply chain management services. Its Web-based technology platform compiles and analyzes data from its network of over 24,000 transportation providers to serve its clients' shipping and freight management needs. Its technology platform, composed of Web-based software applications and a database, enables it to identify excess transportation capacity, obtain competitive rates, and execute thousands of shipments every day. It focuses on arranging transportation across truckload (TL) and less than truck load (LTL), and it also offers small parcel, inter-modal (which involves moving a shipment by rail and truck), domestic air, expedited and international transportation services. Its logistics services include rate negotiation, shipment execution and tracking, carrier management, routing compliance, freight bill audit and payment and performance management reporting, including executive dashboard tools. Effective January 1, 2011, the Company acquired Nationwide Traffic Services, LLC. (Nationwide) Effective July 1, 2011, the Company acquired Advantage Transport, Inc. (Advantage). Effective December 1, 2011, the Company acquired the stock of Trailer Transport Systems (TTS). In June 2012, the Company acquired Plum Logistics, LLC. In July 2012, it acquired all of the assets of Shipper Direct Logistics, Inc. In October 2012, the Company acquired Sharp Freight Systems, Inc.

The Company�� clients fall into two categories, enterprise and transactional. Its enterprise clients outsource their transportation management function to Echo. It enters into multi-year contracts with its enterprise clients. As part of its value proposition, it also provides core logistics services to these clients, including the management of both freight expenditures and logistical issues surrounding freight to be transported. It provides transportation and logistics services to its transactional clients on a shipment-by-shipment basis.! It is a non-asset-based provider of technology enabled transportation and logistics services. Through its carrier network, it provides transportation services using a range of modes of transportation.

Transportation Services

The Company provides Truckload (TL) services across all TL segments, including dry vans, temperature-controlled units and flatbeds. Using its LaneIQ technology, it provide advanced dispatch, communication and data collection tools and capacity information to its clients on a real-time basis. The Company provides less than truckload (LTL) services involving the shipment of single or multiple pallets of freight. Using its RateIQ 2.0 technology, it obtains real-time pricing and transit time information for every LTL shipment from its database of LTL carriers. It provides small parcel services for packages of all sizes. Using its EchoPak technology, it delivers cost saving opportunities to its clients. Inter-modal transportation is the shipping of freight by multiple modes, using a container that is transferred between ships, railcars or trucks. It offers inter-modal transportation services for its clients, which utilizes both trucks and rail. The Company provides domestic air and expedited shipment services for its clients when traditional LTL services do not meet delivery requirements. It uses ETM track and trace tools for up to date information to its clients through EchoTrak. The Company provides air and ocean transportation services for its clients, offering a comprehensive international delivery option to its clients.

Logistics Services

In addition to arranging for transportation, the Company provides logistics services, either on-site (in the case of some enterprise clients) or off-site, to manage the flow of those goods from origin to destination. Its core logistics services include rate negotiation; procurement of transportation, both contractually and in the spot market; shipment execution and tracking; carrier management, ! reporting! and compliance; executive dashboard presentations and detailed shipment reports; freight bill audit and payment; claims processing and service refund management; design and management of inbound client freight programs; individually configured Web portals and self-service data warehouses; enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration with transactional shipment data, and integration of shipping applications into client e-commerce sites. Customers communicate their freight needs, typically on a shipment-by-shipment basis, to the individual or team responsible for their account. Customers communicate with it by means of telephone, fax, Internet, e-mail, or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

Technology Platform

The Company�� ETM technology platform allows it to analyze its clients' transportation requirements and provide customized shipping recommendations. It collects and store pricing and market capacity data in its ETM database from each interaction with carriers, and its database expands as a result of these interactions. It has also developed data acquisition tools, which retrieve information from both private and public transportation databases, including subscription-based sources and public transportation rate boards, and incorporate that information into the ETM database. Its clients communicate their transportation needs to it electronically through its EchoTrak web portal, other computer protocols, or by phone. ETM generates pricing and carrier information for its clients by accessing pre-negotiated rates with preferred carriers or using present or historical pricing and capacity information contained in its database. If a client enters its own shipment, ETM automatically alerts the appropriate account executive. After the carrier is selected, either by it or the client, its account executives use its ETM technology platform to manage all aspects of the shipping process.

The Company�� FastLane is an Internet-based Web portal, which allows its carriers! to view ! shipments available for tender, update equipment availability and preferred lanes, check on the status of all unpaid invoices, unbilled shipments, shipments in transit and other information used to resolve any billing discrepancies. There is also a mobile FastLane application, which allows carriers to view similar information remotely. eConnect is a set of tools, which allows the Company�� clients and carriers to interact directly with ETM electronically through any of several computer protocols, including EDI, extensible markup language (XML) and file transfer protocol (FTP). The eConnect tools serve as an electronic bridge between the other elements of its ETM technology platform and its clients' enterprise resource planning (ERP), billing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, order management, back office and e-commerce systems. Through eConnect, its clients are able to request shipping services and receive financial and tracking data using their existing systems.

EchoTrak is an Internet-based Web portal, which connects and integrates its clients with ETM. By entering a username and password, its clients are able to enter orders, display historical and active shipments in the ETM system using configurable data entry screens sorted by carrier, price, delivery date, destination and other relevant specifications. EchoTrak also generates automatic alerts to ensure that shipments are moving in accordance with the client specifications and timeline. There is also a mobile EchoTrak application, which allows customers to perform similar functions remotely. RateIQ2.0 is a pricing engine, which manages LTL tariffs and generates rate quotes and transit times for LTL shipments. RateIQ2.0 also provides integrated tools to manage dispatch, communications, data collection and management functions relating to LTL shipments. LaneIQ is a pricing engine, which generates rate quotes for TL shipments. LaneIQ also provides integrated tools to manage dispatch, communications, headhaul and backhaul data col! lection a! nd management functions relating to TL shipments. EchoPak is a small parcel pricing and audit engine. For each small parcel shipped, EchoPak audits carrier compliance with on-time delivery requirements and pricing tariffs. In addition, EchoPak tracks information for each parcel and is able to aggregate and analyze that data for clients. For instance, clients are able to view shipments by date, business unit, product line and location, and clients can access information regarding service levels and pricing.

The Company�� Shipment Tracking stores shipment information en-route and after final delivery. The shipment data is acquired through its carrier EDI integration, allowing its clients to track the location and status of all shipments on one screen, regardless of mode or carrier. Final delivery information is permanently archived, allowing it to provide its clients with carrier performance reporting by comparing actual delivery times with the published transit time standards.

Document Imaging allows the Company to store digital images of all shipping documents, including bills of lading and delivery receipts. CAS (Cost Allocation System) automatically audits carrier invoices against its rating engine and accounts payable accrual system. If the amounts match, the invoice is automatically released for payment. If the amounts do not match, the invoice is sent to various administrative personnel for manual processing and resolution. CAS also integrates to its general ledger, accounts receivable and accounts payable systems. Accounting includes its general ledger, accounts receivable and accounts payable functions. Accounting is integrated with CAS and EchoIQ. EchoIQ stores internally and externally generated data to support its reporting and analytic functions and integrate all of its core applications with ETM. ETM supports its logistics services, which it provides to its clients as part of its value proposition. Its ETM technology platform is able to track individual shipments ! and provi! de customized data and reports throughout the lifecycle of the shipment, allowing it to manage the entire shipping process for its clients. It also market Flex TMS.

The Company competes with C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Total Quality Logistics, UPS, FedEx, Schneider, Conway, JB Hunt and ABF.

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 Echo Global Logistics (Nasdaq: ECHO  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

  • [By Will Ashworth]

    Without further adieu, here are my five best stocks for the next 20 years:

    Best Stocks #1 (Small Cap): Echo Global Logistics (ECHO)

    Echo Global Logistics (ECHO) uses web-based proprietary technology to provide business process outsourcing to the transportation industry. Founded in 2005, ECHO serves more than 28,500 small- and midsize customers who use its technology to access the best shipping prices from a network of 24,000 carriers in a matter of seconds.

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014: Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)

Heartland Express, Inc. (Heartland), incorporated on August 8, 1986, is a short-to-medium haul truckload carrier. The Company provides regional dry van truckload services through its regional terminals plus its corporate headquarters. The Company transports freight for shippers and generally earns revenue based on the number of miles per load delivered. The Company�� primary traffic lanes are between customer locations east of the Rocky Mountains. The Company is a holding company of Heartland Express Inc. of Iowa, Heartland Express Services, Inc., Heartland Express Maintenance Services, Inc. and A & M Express, Inc. Heartland operates nine specialized regional distribution operations in Atlanta, Georgia; Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Chester, Virginia; Columbus, Ohio; Jacksonville, Florida; Kingsport, Tennessee; Olive Branch, Mississippi; Phoenix, Arizona, and Seagoville, Texas. The Company operates maintenance facilities at all regional distribution operating centers along with shop only locations in Fort Smith, Arkansas and O��allon, Missouri. In November 2013, Heartland Express Inc acquired 100% of the stock of Gordon Trucking, Inc.

The Company�� operations department is responsible for maintaining the continuity between the customer�� needs and Heartland�� ability to meet those needs by communicating customer�� expectations to the fleet management group. They are charged with development of customer relationships, ensuring service standards, coordinating proper freight-to-capacity balancing, trailer asset management, and daily tactical decisions pertaining to matching the customer demand with the appropriate capacity within geographical service areas. They assign orders to drivers based on well-defined criteria, such as driver safety and United States Department of Transportation (the DOT) compliance, customer needs and service requirements, on-time service, equipment utilization, driver time at home, operational efficiency, and equipment maintenance needs. Fleet management is r! esponsible for driver management and development. Their responsibilities include meeting the needs of the drivers within the standards that have been set by the organization and communicating the requirements of the customers to the drivers on each order to ensure successful execution. Serving the short-to-medium haul market (500 miles average length of haul in 2012) permits the Company to use primarily single, rather than team drivers and dispatch loads directly from origin to destination without an intermediate equipment change other than for driver scheduling purposes.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Sean Williams]

    For this week's round of "Better Know a Stock," I'm going to take a closer look at Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD  ) .

    What Heartland Express does
    Heartland Express is a short-to-medium-haul truckload carrier of general commodities within the United States. It primarily is responsible for shipping automotive parts, retail goods, paper products, and packaged food.

  • [By CRWE]

    Heartland Express, Inc. (Nasdaq:HTLD) reported that on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, members of its management team will participate in the 2012 KeyBanc Capital Markets Industrial, Automotive and Transportation conference.

  • [By Lauren Pollock]

    Heartland Express Inc.(HTLD), a trucking firm steered by the Gerdin family, agreed to acquire another family controlled peer, Gordon Trucking Inc., in a transaction valued at about $300 million. Shares climbed 12% to $16.05 in light premarket trading.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Shares of Heartland Express (HTLD) rose today despite being cut by Stifel Nicolaus for valuation reasons.

    Bloomberg News

    Shares of Heartland Express have gained 50% this year, trumping the 38% rise in Con-Way (CNW) and the 29% advance in J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) but lagging Old Dominion Freight Lines (ODFL) and Swift Transportation (SWFT).

    That big gain was enough for Stifel’s John Larkin say no mas and cut his rating on Heartland Express. They explain why:

    Downgrading from Buy to Hold as the company’s shares appear fully and fairly valued. In fact, shares have recently traded through our 12-month fair value estimate of $19 (or 16.0x our 2015 EPS estimate of $1.15 plus ~$0.68 per share NPV of future cash tax benefits).

    Rating change is primarily valuation based as well as from our view that most transportation equities are trading ahead of the still mediocre underlying freight market fundamentals.

    BB&T’s Thomas Albrecht and team, who upgraded Heartland Express to Buy from Hold yesterday, explain why they think the stock will do just fine regardless of the economy:

    Heartland is an intriguing play upon both a slow-growth economy and a rapidly growing one (along with tight capacity). Many carriers are only able to thrive in the latter environment. With HTLD we believe that even in a sluggish economy it has a self-generating EPS story through the integration and growth of Gordon. Q3’13, a very difficult quarter for TL carriers, saw HTLD post a 79.3% OR versus 83.3%.

    The timing of the Gordon deal seems ideal, similar to the Great Coastal acquisition in mid-2002. Back then the TL market was stabilizing, but had yet to really take off, which occurred in the back half of 2003. Those 4-5 quarters allowed HTLD to assess customers, integrate operations, consolidate facilities and get ready for the next cycle. By the time that occurred HTLD was ready to take advantage of the capacity

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014: Marten Transport Ltd (MRTN)

Marten Transport, Ltd. is a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier. The Company specializes in transporting and distributing food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment. It operates throughout the United States and in parts of Canada and Mexico. The Company operates in two segments: Truckload and Logistics. During the year ended December 31, 2011, approximately 81% of its truckload revenue resulted from hauling temperature-sensitive products and 19% from hauling dry freight. Its long-haul traffic lanes are between the Midwest and the West Coast, Southwest, Southeast, and the East Coast, as well as from California to the Pacific Northwest. It provides regional truckload carrier services in the Southeast, West Coast, Midwest, South Central and Northeast regions.

The Company derives truckload revenue from fuel surcharges, loading and unloading activities, equipment detention and other ancillary services. Its operating revenue also includes revenue reported within its Logistics segment, which consists of revenue from its internal brokerage and intermodal operations, and through its 45% interest in MW Logistics, LLC (MWL), a third-party provider of logistics services to the transportation industry. Brokerage services involve arranging for another company to transport freight for the Company�� customers, while it retains the billing, collection and customer management responsibilities. Intermodal services involve the transport of its trailers on railroad flatcars for a portion of a trip, with the balance of the trip using its tractors or, to a lesser extent, contracted carriers. It focuses on large food and consumer-packaged goods companies whose products require temperature-sensitive services and who ship multiple truckloads per week. As of December 31, 2011, its customers were General Mills and Kraft.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated a fleet of 2,281 tractors, including 2,233 company owned tractors and 48 t! ractors supplied by independent contractors. The average age of its company owned tractor fleet at December 31, 2011 was approximately 2.6 years. As of December 31, 2011, it operated a fleet of 4,124 trailers. Most of its trailers are equipped with Thermo-King refrigeration units, air ride suspensions and anti-lock brakes. The average age of its trailer fleet as of December 31, 2011 was approximately 2.4 years.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.23 per share on revenue of $168.28 million.

    CSX (NYSE: CSX) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.43 per share on revenue of $2.95 billion.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    Marten Transport (Nasdaq: MRTN  ) reported earnings on July 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.

    The 10-second takeaway
    For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Marten Transport missed estimates on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Hot Freight Companies To Invest In 2014: Chalmers Ltd (CHR)

Chalmers Limited is an Australia-based company engaged in transport, logistic services, warehousing and container storage, repairs and sales. The Company operated in three segments: Transport, Containers and Property. Transport consists of road transport, predominantly import/export FCL containers and the interface with logistics/ warehousing/hubbing services. Containers represent the empty container park operations concerned with handling, storage, repairs, upgrades, pretrips and so on of empty containers on behalf of shipping and leasing company customers. Property represents the capital investment Chalmers has in freeholds located in Melbourne. The Company�� subsidiaries include Chalmers Industries Pty Ltd, Chalmers (Australia) Pty Ltd and Chalmers Industries (Brisbane) Pty Ltd. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Corinne Gretler]

    Chr. Hansen A/S (CHR) slid 1.7 percent to 186 kroner after Credit Suisse Group AG cut the stock to neutral, the equivalent of hold, from outperform. The brokerage said that profit from its natural-color business remains under pressure. The world�� biggest maker of dairy enzymes cut its full-year sales forecast on July 3 because of lower prices for the red pigment carmine.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Top 5 Media Companies To Invest In 2014

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is not a rash and foolish company, and neither is its CEO, Tim Cook.

So the general condemnation in the media of the possible purchase of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion by the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant seems a bit premature.

While the deal is not official, the news first appeared in the Financial Times and was quickly backed up by stories in most other major financial news publications. If true, which appears very likely, an announcement could come as early as next week.

AAPL stock barely reacted and was down less than 1% in mid-day trading.

Beats, which sells a very popular line of headphones and recently launched a streaming music service, was founded by hip hop legend Dr. Dre and renowned music producer Jimmy Iovine in 2008.

Top 5 Logistics Companies To Own In Right Now: Cablevision Systems Corporation (CVC)

Cablevision Systems Corporation provides telecommunications and media services. It operates in two segments, Telecommunications Services and Other. The Telecommunications Services segment is involved in television business, including video, high-speed data, and VoIP operations, as well as the provision of commercial data and voice services. The Other segment offers Newsday, a daily newspaper; amNewYork, a free daily newspaper; and Star Community Publishing, a group of weekly shopper publications; and newsday.com and exploreLI.com. This segment also engages in motion picture theatre business, Clearview Cinemas; provision of the News 12 Networks, a regional news programming services; and the MSG Varsity network, a network covering high school sports and activities, and other local programs, as well as cable television advertising. Cablevision Systems Corporation was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Bethpage, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Will Ashworth]

    Losing control of the Cablevision (CVC) spinoff will ultimately be better for the Dolans than if they try to go it alone.

    This scenario�� likely a long shot, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

  • [By Sean Williams]

    For a second day in a row, we need to look no further than the broadcasting sector for our best performers. Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) and Cablevision (NYSE: CVC  ) advanced 8.1% and 3.5%, respectively, on speculation that a wave of mergers and acquisitions would sweep through the sector. If you recall, Gannett�shares soared after announcing a $1.5 billion purchase of Belo�yesterday to expand its national broadcasting presence.

  • [By Teresa Rivas]

    On the flip side, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) takes the dubious honor of most overbought: It has 40.3% to fall, based on its Goldman �target price. �The top five includes Cablevision Systems (CVC) Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Intel (INTC) and U.S. Steel (X). Other big players on the list are Microsoft (MSFT), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), and Staples (SPLS).

  • [By Alyce Lomax]

    All in the family
    Cablevision� (NYSE: CVC  ) is family-controlled, so maybe nepotism is to be expected. Recently, in a bizarre turn of events, CEO James Dolan expanded the corporate responsibilities of his wife, Kristin. Although that sounds like a clear conflict of interest, it's a little stranger still since the company had disclosed that the couple had separated. Meanwhile, Dolan's brother-in-law, Brian Sweeney, has been awarded with a promotion to spearhead corporate strategy.

Top 5 Media Companies To Invest In 2014: News Corporation(NWSA)

News Corporation operates as a diversified media company worldwide. Its Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news, business news, sports, general entertainment, and movie programming for distribution through cable television systems and direct broadcast satellite operators primarily in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The company?s Filmed Entertainment segment produces and acquires live-action and animated motion pictures for distribution and licensing in entertainment media, as well as produces and licenses television programming worldwide. Its Television segment operates 27 broadcast television stations in the United States. The company?s Direct Broadcast Satellite Television segment distributes programming services via satellite and broadband directly to subscribers in Italy. Its Publishing segment provides newspapers and information services, such as publishing national newspapers in the United Kingdom, approximately 146 newspapers in Australia, and a metropolitan and a national newspaper in the United States; book publishing services, including the publishing of English language books worldwide; and integrated marketing services comprising the publishing of free-standing inserts, which are marketing booklets containing coupons, rebates, and other consumer offers, as well as provides in-store marketing products and services, primarily to consumer packaged goods manufacturers in the United States and Canada. The company also sells advertising, sponsorships, and subscription services on the company?s various digital media properties and outdoor advertising space on various media primarily in Russia and eastern Europe; and provides data systems and professional services that enable teachers to use data to assess student progress and deliver individualized instructions. News Corporation was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lee Jackson]

    News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) boasts a cable-leading news operation and a host of additional entertainment properties. The consensus target for the stock is $17.30.

  • [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

    News Corp. is a media and information services company that has recently spun-off of its very profitable entertainment segment. It is being reported that the company recently made a profit which is a turn around from last year, signaling signs of improvement. The stock has seen progress but is now pulling-back as markets book gains. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise which has left investors optimistic about the company. Relative to its peers and sector, News Corp. has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what News Corp. does this quarter.

  • [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

    News Corp. provides a wide range of media and information services to consumers and companies interested in the latest and greatest around the world. The stock has been on a strong run in recent years but is now seeing a slight pullback that may take some time. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenue figures have been improving, however, investors have had mixed feelings about their reports. Relative to its peers and sector, News Corp. has been a year-to-date performance leader. Look for News Corp. to continue to OUTPERFORM.

  • [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

    News Corp. is a media and information services company that has recently spun-off of its very profitable entertainment segment. The company�reported its first quarterly financial results after splitting from 21st Century Fox. The stock has seen progress but is now pulling back as investors book gains. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been on the rise, which has left investors optimistic about the company. Relative to its peers and sector, News Corp. has been a weak year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what News Corp. does this quarter.

Top 5 Media Companies To Invest In 2014: Comcast Corporation(CMCSA)

Comcast Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides entertainment, information, and communications products and services in the United States and internationally. Its Cable Communications segment provides video, high-speed Internet, and phone services to residential and business customers. As of June 30, 2011, its cable systems served approximately 22.5 million video customers, 17.5 million high-speed Internet customers, and 9.1 million phone customers. The company?s Cable Networks segment operates cable entertainment networks, such as USA Network, Syfy, E!, Bravo, Oxygen, Style, G4, Chiller, Sleuth, and Universal HD; news and information networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, and CNBC World; cable sports networks comprising Golf Channel and VERSUS; regional sports and news networks; international entertainment, and news and information networks, such as CNBC Europe, CNBC Asia, and Universal Networks International portfolio of networks; cable television production oper ations; and digital media properties consisting primarily of brand-aligned Websites and other Websites, such as DailyCandy, Fandango, and iVillage. Its Broadcast Television segment operates the U.S. broadcast networks, NBC and Telemundo; 10 NBC and 15 Telemundo owned local television stations; broadcast television productions; and related digital media properties. The company?s Filmed Entertainment segment operates Universal Pictures, which produces, acquires, markets, and distributes filmed entertainment and stage plays worldwide in various media formats for theatrical, home entertainment, television, and other distribution platforms. Its Theme Parks segment operates Universal Studios Hollywood park and Wet ?n Wild water park, as well as licenses intellectual properties and provides services to third parties that own and operate Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore. Comcast Corporation was founded in 1963 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Tim Beyers]

    R.I.P.D., short for "rest in peace department," tells the story of two deceased cops who return to the living world to protect it from evil spirits that refuse move on into the afterlife. Dark Horse Comics first published the four-issue miniseries from writer Peter M. Lenkov in late 1999. Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds co-star in the film version, which cost Comcast's (NASDAQ: CMCSA  ) NBCUniversal a reported $130 million to produce.

  • [By Jon C. Ogg]

    Meanwhile, Time Warner, which is the second largest cable provider in the U.S., is still reportedly trying to put together a deal with the nation�� largest cable provider, Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA). This may shut Liberty out, or it could be a deal that includes Charter in some markets.

Top 5 Media Companies To Invest In 2014: Time Warner Inc.(TWX)

Time Warner Inc. operates as a media and entertainment company in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Networks, Filmed Entertainment, and Publishing. The Networks segment provides domestic and international networks, premium pay and basic tier television programming services, and digital media properties, which primarily consist of brand-aligned Websites. Its premium pay television services consist of the multi-channel HBO and Cinemax premium pay television services. This segment provides programming to cable system operators, satellite service distributors, telephone companies, and other distributors; sells advertising; and licenses original programming to domestic and international television networks. The Filmed Entertainment segment produces and distributes feature films, television and other programming, and videogames; distributes home video products; and licenses rights to its feature films, television programming, and characters. T he Publishing segment publishes magazines and books; and operates various Websites, as well as engages in marketing services and direct-marketing businesses. This segment publishes magazines on style and entertainment, lifestyle, news, and sports. The company?s brands include TNT, TBS, CNN, HBO, Cinemax, Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, People, Sports Illustrated, and Time. Time Warner Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Victor Reklaitis and Barbara Kollmeyer]

    Time Warner (TWX) �said its third-quarter profit jumped to $1.26 a share from 84 cents a share in the year-ago period. The company was seen posting third-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share. The stock rose 2% in premarket trading.

  • [By Tim Beyers and Erin Miller]

    To be fair, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX  ) has a lot more to lose than does Disney at this point. Warner needs kids to get excited about its titular superhero ahead of next month's reboot, Man of Steel. Between Free Comic Book Day and a variety of well-received trailers, it appears as though the strategy is working, Tim says.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014

Tesla (TSLA) was up 10% after its second-quarter earnings report.

Tesla said it earned a� nickel a share on revenue of $405 million.

Analysts were expecting the company to report a loss of 17 cents a share on $385 million in revenue.

On a GAAP basis, Tesla reported a loss of $30.5 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $105.6 million, or $1 a share.

In the quarter Tesla made 5,150 deliveries, squeaking past the 4,500 guidance, while gross margins of 22% also came in ahead of forecasts. It touted a 25% increase in production, as it made 500 vehicles a week, up from 400.

The company said it plans to deliver more than 5,000 of its Model S vehicles in the third quarter, with 21,000 for the year as a whole. It sees third-quarter gross margins also in the low 20% range.

The shares have skyrocketed more than 300% since the start of the year, and reached a new all-time high on Tuesday.

Earlier today the stock closed down ahead of the earnings report; there was also news that Tesla is dealing with trademark ��rolls��in China. The stock has largely shrugged off BMW�� entrance into the electric car market last week.

Top 5 Regional Bank Stocks To Own For 2015: j2 Global Inc (JCOM)

j2 Global, Inc., incorporated on December 14, 1995, is a provider of services delivered through the Internet. The Company provides cloud services to businesses of all sizes, from individuals to enterprises. The Company operates in two segments: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. The Company's Digital Media business segment consists of the Web properties and business operations of Ziff Davis, Inc. (Ziff Davis). The Company�� cloud services and solutions include fax, voice and unified communications, email and customer relationship management, online backup, global network and operations, and customer support services. In February 2013, it acquired IGN Entertainment, Inc. On November 9, 2012, the Company acquired Ziff Davis. Effective March 18, 2013, it acquired MetroFax Inc. In April 2013, the Company acquired Backup Connect BV.

Business Cloud Services

The Company's eFax and MyFax online fax services enable users to receive faxes into their email inboxes and to send faxes via the Internet. eVoice and Onebox provides the Company's customers a virtual phone system with various available enhancements. The Company's FuseMail service provides the Company's customers email, archival and perimeter protection solutions, while Campaigner provides its customers email marketing solutions. KeepItSafe enables the Company's customers to securely backup their data and dispose of tape or other physical systems. The Company's CampaignerCRM business provides customer relationship management solutions designed to increase the Company's customers' sales and increase efficiency. The Company also generates Business Cloud Services revenues from patent licensing and sales and advertising. The Company�� Business Cloud Services and solutions are of two types: direct inward-dial number (DID) -based, which are services provided in whole or in part through a telephone number and non-DID-based, which are its other cloud services for business. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had DIDs issued! to approximately 2.1 million paying subscribers.

The Company's services allow individuals to receive and send faxes as email attachments. In addition to eFax , the Company offers online fax services under a variety of alternative brands, including MyFax , eFax Plus , eFax Pro, eFax Corporate and eFax Developer . eVoice is a virtual phone system that provides small and medium-sized businesses on-demand voice communications services, featuring a toll-free or local company DID, auto-attendant and menu tree. With these services, a subscriber can assign departmental and individual extensions that can connect to multiple United States or Canadian DIDs, including land-line and mobile phones and Internet protocol (IP) networks. These services also include advanced integrated voicemail for each extension, unifying mobile, office and other separate voicemail services and improving efficiency by delivering voicemails in both native audio format and as transcribed text. Onebox is a unified communications suite. It combines the features of many of the Company's other branded services, plus added functionality, to provide a virtual office. Onebox includes a virtual phone system, hosted email, online fax, audio conferencing and Web conferencing.

FuseMail offers hosted email, email encryption and email archival services to businesses. These solutions are hosted offsite and seamlessly integrated into a customer's existing email system. The services include hosted email, VirusSMART virus scanning, CypherSMART encryption services, SpamSMART SPAM filtering and VaultSMART / PolicySMART archiving, which delivers a secure, scalable email archiving and customizable compliance tool to correspond with a company's retention policy. Campaigner is an email marketing service that enables businesses to easily create and send personalized one-to-one email communications to subscribers and customers to build better relationships. Campaigner also helps businesses increase the size of their mailing lists, compl! y with em! ail regulations like CAN-SPAM and get more emails to more inboxes. CampaignerCRM is a cloud-based CRM solution specifically designed to help small/medium-sized businesses close more deals, reduce the sales cycle and sell larger deals. CampaignerCRM has a sales checklist capability that gives sales representatives a step-by-step plan to closing a deal. With CampaignerCRM's Social CRM capabilities, companies can seamlessly integrate a customer's latest information from Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook directly into their Contact profile. KeepItSafe provides managed and monitored online backup solutions for businesses, using its ISO-certified platform.

The Company's Business Cloud Services business operates multiple physical Points of Presence (POPs) worldwide, a central data center in Los Angeles and several remote disaster recovery facilities. The Company connects its POPs to its central data centers through redundant, and often times diverse, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using the Internet. The Company's network is designed to deliver value-added user applications, customer support and billing services for the Company's customers anywhere in the world and a local presence for its DID-based service customers from thousands of cities in 49 countries on six continents. The Company offers DIDs covering all major metropolitan areas in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and such other major cities as Berlin, Hong Kong, Madrid, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Zurich. The Company has customers located throughout the world.

The Company's Business Cloud Services customer service organization supports the Company's cloud services customers through a combination of online self-help, email communications, interactive chat sessions and telephone calls. The Company's Internet-based online self-help tools enable customers to resolve simple issues on their own, eliminating the need to speak or write to the Company's customer service re! presentat! ives. The Company's Business Cloud Services segment customer service organization provides email support seven days per week, 24 hours per day to all subscribers. Paying subscribers have access to live-operator telephone support seven days per week, 24 hours per day. Dedicated telephone support is provided for corporate customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Live sales and customer support services are available in nine languages, including English, Spanish, Dutch, German, French and Cantonese.

Digital Media

The Ziff Davis portfolio of Web properties, including PCMag.com, ExtremeTech.com, Geek.com, ComputerShopper.com, LogicBuy.com and Toolbox.com features reviews of technology products, technology-oriented news and commentary, professional networking tools for IT professionals and online deals and discounts for consumers. The Company generates Digital Media revenues from the sale of display advertising targeted to in-market technology buyers and from the sale of customer leads to online merchants and business-to-business leads to IT vendors. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Digital Media Web properties attracted 345 million visits and 1.1 billion page views.

PCMag is a trusted online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news and buying guides. Toolbox.com is a network of online communities that allows experienced technology professionals to share collective knowledge and collaborate to resolve problems more efficiently. Toolbox.com includes professional networking tools, blogs, collaboration tools and reference guides. Geek.com is an online technology resource and community for technology enthusiasts and professionals. Its gaming site includes IGN.com and men's lifestyle site includes AskMen.com.

The Company competes with Google AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, AOL's Ad.com and Microsoft Media Network.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Chuck Carnevale]

    j2 Global Inc. (JCOM)

    One company that many readers may not be familiar with is j2 Global Inc. My purpose in featuring this aggressive candidate was to offer an example of a historically pure growth technology company that appears to be morphing into a dividend growth stock. But before I show that, I offer the following slide that provides an overview of j2 Global�� business.

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Oriental Financial Group Inc.(OFG)

Oriental Financial Group Inc., a financial holding company, provides various banking and financial services to mid and high net worth individuals, and families, including professionals and owners of small and mid-sized businesses primarily in Puerto Rico. It operates in three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and Treasury. The Banking segment offers commercial and consumer lending, saving and time deposit products, financial planning, and corporate and individual trust services. It also provides mortgage lending products that include the origination and purchase of residential mortgage loans. As of October 25, 2011, this segment operated 30 branches in Puerto Rico. The Wealth Management segment offers securities brokerage, trust services, retirement planning, insurance, pension administration, and other wealth management services. Its securities brokerage services include various investment alternatives, such as tax-advantaged fixed income securities, mutual funds, sto cks, and bonds to retail and institutional clients. This segment also provides public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, underwriting, and merger and acquisition and financial restructuring advisory services. In addition, it engages in insurance agency services and administration of retirement plans in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. The Treasury segment is involved in various treasury related functions with an investment portfolio consisting of mortgage-backed securities, obligations of U.S. government sponsored agencies, Puerto Rico government and agency obligations, structured credit investments, and money market instruments. The company was founded in 1964 and is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    For investors looking for exposure to the US commonwealth of Puerto Rico, banking stocks Doral Financial Corp (NYSE: DRL), First Bancorp (NYSE: FBP), OFG Bancorp (NYSE: OFG) and Popular Inc (NASDAQ: BPOP) offer the best bet as these Puerto Rico stocks trade on major US exchanges rather than the OTC. However, it should be mentioned that there has been a slowdown in Puerto Rico�� economy which has also shrunk in five of the past seven fiscal years. Then last�February, Puerto Rico�� debt was cut to speculative grade by the three largest credit-rating companies while�Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has proposed a series of budget cuts to help tackle the island�� mounting debt load -including the freezing public workers��salaries and the closing about 100 schools.

  • [By Paul Ausick]

    The third recommended multinational is another Puerto Rican bank, OFG Bancorp (NYSE: OFG). A recent dividend increase could indicate a share buyback for next year. The bank raised its EPS guidance in every quarter of 2013. This small cap bank closed at $16.82 on Friday in a 52-week range of $12.86 to $19.33. The Sterne Agee price target on the stock is $23.00, yielding a potential upside of almost 79%. The EPS estimate for 2014 is $2.05 and the stock�� forward multiple for 2014 is a low 8.3 from the firm while the consensus multiple is 9.45.

  • [By Marc Bastow]

    Diversified financial services company OFG Bancorp (OFG) raised its quarterly dividend 33% to 8 cents per share, payable on Jan. to shareholders of record as of Dec. 31.
    OFG Dividend Yield: 1.8%

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Iberpapel Gestion SA (IBG)

Iberpapel Gestion SA is a Spain-based holding company engaged in the paper industry. The Company operates through three divisions: Forestry, involved in the acquisition and cultivation of eucalyptus plantations in Argentina, Uruguay and Spain; Industrial, focused on the production of bleached pulp and paper products, and Commercial, specialized on the distribution of products such as printing and photocopy paper, offset paper, light-coated paper, laser printing paper, paper bags and envelopes. The Company�� subsidiaries include Distribuidora Papelera SA, Moliner Dominguez y Cia SA, Ibereucaliptos SA, Papelera Guipuzcoana de Zicunaga SA, Central de Suministros de Artes Graficas Papel SA and Copaimex SA, among others. The Company�� major shareholders include ONCHENA, SL and BESTINVER GESTION, SA. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Holly LaFon]

    The top contributing stock for the quarter was Saft Groupe (XPAR:SAFT).� The company has two main divisions: the Specialty Battery Group (SBG), which makes lithium batteries for various end markets including satellites, utility meters and military applications; and the Industrial Battery Group (IBG), which produces rechargeable nickel and lithium-ion batteries for industrial back-up power, aviation, rail, telecom and energy storage industries.�

  • [By GURUFOCUS]

    The top contributing stock for the quarter was Saft Groupe (XPAR:SAFT).� The company has two main divisions: the Specialty Battery Group (SBG), which makes lithium batteries for various end markets including satellites, utility meters and military applications; and the Industrial Battery Group (IBG), which produces rechargeable nickel and lithium-ion batteries for industrial back-up power, aviation, rail, telecom and energy storage industries.�

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd (VBHLF)

Virgin Australia Holdings Limited (VAH) is an Australia-based company engaged in the development and operation of domestic and international airlines. VAH�� fleet includes ATR-72, Embraer 190, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, AIRBUS A330 and Boeing 777-300ER. It product includes Airbus A330 Business Class. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012, the Company carried 19,468,929 guests on 216 city pairs to 52 destinations, and operated 162,817 flights. On February 22, 2012, under the proposal, all of the shares in the international airline business of Virgin Australia were transferred to a new holding company, Virgin Australia International Holdings Pty Ltd. In April 2013, it acquired 100% of the issued share capital in Skywest Airlines Ltd. In July 2013, Virgin Australia Holdings Limited announced that it has acquired 60% interest of Tiger Airways Australia Pty Limited from Tiger Airways Holdings Limited. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks gave ground in early Friday trading, with banks broadly lower after overnight losses in the U.S., where investors worried that better-than-expected data would prompt the Federal Reserve to roll back stimulus soon. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) lost 0.4% to 5,178.30, as National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) fell 1.8%, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) lost 0.8%, and Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) (MCQEF) retreated 1.3%. Among the resource shares, losses for gold both in New York and in early Asian electronic trade helped send Evolution Mining Ltd. (AU:EVN) (CAHPF) down 1.9% and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. (AU:KCN) (KSKGF) off 4.5%, though Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) held the drop to 0.4%. Oil prices managed a modest gain, however, resulting in a 0.2% rise for Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH) (OISHF) and Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (AU:KAR) (KRNGF) , while Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (AU:WPL)

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Amedisys Inc(AMED)

Amedisys, Inc., a health care company, provides home health and hospice services primarily in the United States. It operates in two segments, Home Health and Hospice. The Home Health segment offers various services in the homes of individuals who may be recovering from an illness, injury, or surgical procedure. This segment?s services include skilled nursing, home health aides, physical and occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medical social services; and chronic care clinical programs for patients with chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes, behavioral health, rehabilitative, and medical surgical conditions. The Hospice segment provides care that is designed to offer comfort and support for those who are facing a terminal illness, such as heart disease, pulmonary disease, dementia, Alzheimer?s, HIV/AIDS, or cancer. As of December 31, 2011, the company owned and operated 440 Medicare-certified home health care centers, 87 Medicare-certified hospice care centers, and 2 hospice inpatient units in 41 states within the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Amedisys, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brendan Conway]

    That zipping sound you hear is home-health provider�Amedisys‘ (AMED) 24% surge on news that�private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.�has a stake of more than 8% in the stock.

    CRT Capital analyst Sheryl Skolnick, a critic of company management, upgrades to “fair value” this morning and essentially tells clients to get out of KKR’s way, since the firm could end up ushering in a new board and management:

    There are times when this analyst will ‘take on’ shareholders with differing views and there are times when she knows, from long experience, not to even think about it. This is one of the latter times ….

    We know that when activists get involved, strange and interesting things happen, even (especially?) with entrenched managements. For the record, we think it unlikely that this part of KKR will take AMED private: filing a 13-D that almost surely takes the stock up would be that act of amateurs, in our view, not the act of a savvy firm like KKR. Some may conclude from the language of the 13-D that KKR may not actually become active. We reviewed it and found it nearly identical to other activists’ initial statements: then things changed. Thus, a new Board and management does seem likely and is indeed the strategy we advocated in our 4/3/13 report and THAT is the root cause of our upgrade.

    But for the 13-D we would NOT have upgraded. Indeed, we were in the midst of preparing a strong reiteration of our view that AMED cannot be fixed by this CEO and his Board. We reiterate that view here and strongly suspect that any activist likely has or will reach that same conclusion.

  • [By Monica Gerson]

    Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) is expected to post a Q4 loss at $0.01 per share on revenue of $295.02 million.

    Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.36 per share on revenue of $1.43 billion.

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

Rent-A-Center, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, primarily engages in leasing household durable goods to customers on a rent-to-own basis. The company?s stores offer durable products, such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, and furniture and accessories under flexible rental purchase agreements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed upon rental period. It also provides merchandise on an installment sales basis in its stores. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 3,008 company-owned stores in the United States, and in Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico, including 42 retail installment sales stores under the names ?Get It Now? and ?Home Choice?; and 18 rent-to-own stores located in Canada under the ?Rent-A-Centre? name. It also operates 209 franchised rent-to-own stores in 32 states under the ColorTyme trade name; and 384 kiosk locations under the ?RAC Acceptance? model. In addition, the company, th rough its ColorTyme?s franchised stores, offers custom rims and tires for sale or rental under the trade names ?RimTyme? or ?ColorTyme Custom Wheels?. Rent-A-Center, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Anna Prior]

    Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Friday’s session are Lorillard Inc.(LO), Wells Fargo (WFC) & Co. and Rent-A-Center Inc.(RCII)

  • [By Grace L. Williams]

    Rent-A-Center (RCII) grabbed our attention when the new CFO joined a director for a cluster buy. Most notable were Guy Constant, who bought 10,000 shares for $248,400 and J.V. Lentell, a director, who bought 5,000 shares for $119,000. InsiderScore notes that the buys occurred in the wake of a three-year low at the rent-to-own durable goods retailer.

Top 10 Forestry Companies To Invest In 2014: Montalvo Spirits Inc (TQLA)

Montalvo Spirits Inc., incorporated on November 18, 2010, is a development-stage company. The Company develops, markets and distributes alcoholic beverages with initial offering being the Montalvo Tequila, primarily in the United States. The Company sells its products through a network of spirits distributors, who are licensed to distribute alcoholic beverages throughout the United States. The Company intends to focus on growing the market share of its initial products, the ultra-premium Montalvo line of tequilas, whose expressions include Plata, Reposado, Anejo and Extra-Anejo. The Company owns the Montalvo brand trademark and have exclusive worldwide master distribution rights to the brands.

The Company�� portfolio of alcoholic beverage brands includes additional spirits categories, as well as beer and wine, through additional importation and distribution contracts of existing brands. In addition, the Company may choose to develop new brands or acquire existing companies with their own brand portfolios. The Company�� subsidiary, Casa Montalvo, has an exclusive worldwide distribution agreement with Destilidora Huerta Real, S.A. de C.V., the producers of Montalvo Tequila. Montalvo, an ultra-premium tequila brand, is a handcrafted, formulated tequila produced from blue agave plants from the Lowlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Montalvo is available in four expressions: Plata, Reposado, Anejo and Extra-Anejo.

The Company competes with Diageo PLC, Pernod Ricard S.A., Bacardi Limited, Brown-Forman Corporation, Beam Inc., Remy Cointreau S.A. and Constellation Brands, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By CRWE]

    Today, TQLA surged (+10.80%) up +0.042 at $.431 with 1,344,844 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 1:09PM EDT� September 24, 2013).

    Montalvo Spirits, Inc. previously reported they have entered into a sales and marketing agreement with Prestige International Exports, LLC (“Prestige”). Prestige will represent the Montalvo Spirits portfolio brands in certain international markets, as well as provide sales and marketing support for Montalvo Tequila and Broken Heart Gin throughout the state of California, and will assist the Company in attempting to secure distribution in additional markets in the U.S.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014

Abbott Labs' second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street's projections, as the company continues to perform well in its post-branded pharmaceuticals life. However, Abbott's medical device business couldn't keep up its more successful segments, even as the company has made progress in key areas such as drug-eluting stents, while advancing into emerging markets.Overall, device sales fell 1.6% year-over-year for the quarter.

Abbott's made a few recent acquisitions to beef up this business, and the company's stellar Xience stent remains atop the industry. Are Abbott's plans for the future enough to turn around this division's slumping sales, however? Below, Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll tells you what you need to know about Abbott's device business, and how this segment will impact this well-diversified company -- and your portfolio -- in the future.

Abbott's diversity and international edge have made this stock one of health care's safest and most reliable picks in the past. Abbott's a key reminder that investing for the long-term is the most sure-fire way to maximize your financial future. The Motley Fool's special free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," names specific investment opportunities that could help you build long-term wealth, and help you retire well. The Fool also outlines critical wealth-building strategies that every investor should know.�Click here�to keep reading.

Hot Financial Companies For 2015: Staples Inc.(SPLS)

Staples, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an office products company. The company offers various office supplies and services, office machines and related products, computers and related products, and office furniture under Staples, Quill, and other proprietary brands. It also provides copy and print services to retail and delivery customers, as well as technology services through its EasyTech business. The company sells and delivers office products and services directly to businesses and consumers through Internet retail, including Staples.com and Quill.com, as well as through contract sales force, direct mail catalog business, and retail stores. As of January 28, 2012, it operated 2,295 retail stores in 48 states and the District of Columbia in the United States; and 10 provinces and 2 territories in Canada, as well as in Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom, China, Argentina, and Australia. The company also operated 124 distribution and fulfillment centers in 29 states in the United States; 7 provinces in Canada; and in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, China, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. Staples, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

    Staples provides essential business and consumer products to people operating in a large number of countries and industries. The company recently reported earnings that have not pleased investors. The stock is currently selling-off after its recent news. Over the last four quarters, earnings and revenues have been decreasing which has left investors in the company disappointed. Relative to its peers and sector, Staples has been a year-to-date performance leader. WAIT AND SEE what Staples does this coming quarter.

  • [By iStockAnalyst]

    [Related -Staples, Inc. (SPLS): How Q3 Earnings Will Fare?]

    Maybe, business isn't going to slip as much as analysts expect in 2014. So far, at least, search volume intensity for the keyword "Staples" is flat for the first three months of 2014 versus the same time last year. Additionally, both Alexa.com and quantcast.com show a rise in web visitors to Staples.com year-over-year to start 2014, as well.

  • [By Mani]

    [Related -Bullish Activity Detected In Staples, Inc. (SPLS) Options and Bearish in Carnival Corporation (CCL)]

    The situation led to industry consolidation, with Office Depot and OfficeMax agreeing to merge in $1.17 billion deal. In a way, these could be beneficial for Staples as it may gain market share from those two rivals who are in their integration phase.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Tesoro Petroleum Corporation(TSO)

Tesoro Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in refining and marketing petroleum products in the United States. It operates in two segments, Refining and Retail. The Refining segment refines crude oil and other feed stocks into transportation fuels, such as gasoline, gasoline blendstocks, jet fuel, and diesel fuel, as well as other products, including heavy fuel oils, liquefied petroleum gas, petroleum coke, and asphalt. This segment also sells refined products in the wholesale market primarily through independent unbranded distributors; and in the bulk market primarily to independent unbranded distributors, other refining and marketing companies, utilities, railroads, airlines and marine, and industrial end-users. It owns and operates 7 refineries with a combined crude oil capacity of 665 thousand barrels per day. The Retail segment sells gasoline, diesel fuel, and convenience store items through company-operated retail stations, and third-party branded dea lers and distributors in the western United States. As of December 31, 2011, this segment had 1,175 branded retail stations under the Tesoro, Shell, and USA Gasoline brands. The company was formerly known as Tesoro Petroleum Corporation and changed its name to Tesoro Corporation in November 2004. Tesoro Corporation was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Claudia Assis]

    Among the few energy firms in the red Tuesday, refiners Tesoro Corp. (TSO) �and Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) �declined 1.6% and 0.6%, respectively.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    During the past three months, Valero Energy (VLO) has fallen 7.3%, Marathon Petroleum (MPC) has dropped 17% and Tesoro (TSO) has plunged 21%. Phillips 66 (PSX) is off 13% during that period, while HollyFrontier (HFC) is down 7.7%.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: USmart Mobile Device Inc (UMDI)

USmart Mobile Device Inc., formerly ACL Semiconductors Inc., incorporated on September 17, 2002, the Company is engaged primarily in the business of distributing memory products under the Samsung brand name, which consists of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Graphic Random Access Memory (Graphic RAM) and Flash for the Hong Kong and Southern China markets. The primary products the Company distributes and sells include Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAMs), DDRs (DDR1, DDR2 and DDR3), Flash memory, Graphic RAM and LCD panels. In September 2012, the Company acquired Jussey Investments Limited.

Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAMs), or mobile SDRAM, are used semiconductor memory component in computer peripherals, such as Hard Disk Drives (HDD), Digital Still Camera (DSC), Modems, ADSL Applications, DVD player, Set-top Box (STB), Digital TV, High Definition TV (HDTV) and Portable Multimedia Players (PMP). DDRs (DDR1, DDR2 and DDR3) are random access memory components that transfer data on both 0-1 and 1-0 clock transitions, theoretically yielding twice the data transfer rate of normal RAM or SDRAM.

Flash memory is a specialized type of memory component used to store user data and program code; it retains this information even when the power is off. Although Flash is predominantly used in mobile phones and tablets, it is commonly used in multi-media digital storage applications for products, such as moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players, digital still camera DSC, Digital Voice Recorders, universal serial bus (USB) Disks and Flash Cards. Graphic RAM is a special purpose DDR (GDDR1, GDDR2, GDDR3, GDDR4) that is used in graphic products which require high-speed 3-dimensional calculation performance and a memory size to be used as data storage buffer for digital versatile disc (DVD) and computer game displays. LCD panels are a component in consumer electronics, such as LCD TVs, tablets, smartphones, notebooks, digital phone frames and por! table game consoles.

The Company competes with Toshiba, Hynix, Nanya, PSC, Promos, ISSI and ESMT.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Last Friday, small cap stocks MedCAREERS Group Inc (OTCMKTS: MCGI), USmart Mobile Device Inc (OTCMKTS: UMDI) and Drinks Americas Holdings, Ltd (OTCMKTS: DKAM) were all over the place with the first two sinking 54% and 48.05%, respectively, while the last one rose 10.81%. It should be mentioned that all three small cap stocks have been the subject of paid promotions albeit none of these stocks have been over promoted. So where can investors and traders expect these stocks to head this week? Here is a quick look at what you might expect:

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3)

Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA, formerly Mehir Holdings SA, is a Brazil-based holding company engaged in the education sector. The Company provides higher graduate and postgraduate education through full time and distance learning programs. It is also engaged in the provision of preparatory courses for public competition and other specialization courses. The Company offers the academic programs, such as full time graduate, distance graduate and post-graduate courses. Additionally, the Company provides selected courses through the methodology of distance learning, including graduate, post-graduate and continuous education courses. Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA offers its services for working adults and operates in approximately 71 campuses and around 500 learning centers located throughout each of around the 26 Brazilian states. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ney Hayashi]

    Anhanguera Educacional Participacoes SA (AEDU3) tumbled after Brazil�� antitrust regulator signaled it may limit the education company�� merger with competitor Kroton Educacional SA. (KROT3) Lojas Renner SA (LREN3) led retailers higher after a report showed Brazil�� industrial production expanded faster than expected in October, easing concern that growth is faltering.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Aixtron SE (AIXG)

AIXTRON SE (AIXTRON), formerly AIXTRON AG, incorporated in 1983, is a provider of deposition equipment equipment to the semiconductor and compound-semiconductor industry. The Company's technology solutions are used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to build advanced components for electronic and opto-electronic applications based on compound, silicon, or organic semiconductor materials. Such components are used in fiber optic communication systems, wireless and mobile telephony applications, optical and electronic storage devices, computing, signaling and lighting, displays, as well as a range of other technologies. AIXTRON's business activities include developing, producing and installing equipment for coating semiconductor materials, process engineering, consulting and training, including ongoing customer support. AIXTRON supplies to customers both full production-scale complex material deposition systems and small scale systems for research and development (R&D) use and small-scale production use.

AIXTRON's product range includes customized production and research scale compound semiconductor systems capable of depositing material films on up to 95 * two-inch diameter wafers per single production run, or smaller multiples of larger diameter wafers, employing MOCVD or Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) or organic thin film deposition on up to Gen. 3.5 substrates, including Polymer Vapor Phase Deposition (PVPD) or Organic Vapor Phase Deposition (OVPD) or large area deposition for Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) applications or Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Phase Deposition (PECVD) for depositing complex Carbon Nanostructures (Carbon Nanotubes, Nanowires or Graphene). AIXTRON also manufactures full production and research scale deposition systems for silicon semiconductor applications capable of depositing material films on wafers of up to 300 millimeters diameter, employing technologies, such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Atomic Vapor Deposition (AVD) and Atomic Layer! Deposition (ALD).

AIXTRON also offers a range of peripheral equipment and services, including products capable of monitoring the concentration of gases in the air and for cleaning the exhaust gas from metal organic chemical vapor deposition processes. The Company also assists its customers in designing the production layouts for the gas supply to thin film deposition systems. Additionally, the Company offers its customers training, consulting and support services.

The Company competes with Veeco Instruments Inc. (USA), Taiyo Nippon Sanso (Japan), Ulvac, Inc. (Japan), Tokki Corporation (Japan), Sumitomo (Japan), Applied Materials, Inc. (USA), Doosan DND Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Sunic System (South Korea), Tokyo Electron Ltd. (Japan), ASM International N.V. (Netherlands), IPS Technology (South Korea), Jusung Engineering Co. Ltd. (South Korea), and Hitachi Kokusai Electric Co. Inc. (Japan).

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Rich Smith]

    This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines include upgrades for both industrialist Aixtron (NASDAQ: AIXG  ) and fashionista bebe stores (NASDAQ: BEBE  ) . But the news isn't all good, so let's start off with a few words on...

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Bluforest Inc (BLUF)

Bluforest Inc., formerly Greenwood Gold Resources, Inc., incorporated on March 26, 2008, is a carbon offset credit trading company with land assets in South America. Global Environmental Investments Limited (GEIL) sold all of the rights and interests held by GEIL pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement, on March 30, 2012, to the Company regarding the Property, which consists of approximately 105,000 hectares. It consists of 100% of GEIL�� rights, title and interests in and to the timber, minerals, substances and the rights to receive from the Property, and 100% of the right, title and interests of GEIL in all existing oil, gas and/or mineral unitization, pooling and/or communization agreements, declarations, and/or orders and the properties covered or included in the units, which relate to the Property.

The Property consists of 100% of the right, title and interests of GEIL in all existing and agreements, including sales and sales related contracts, operating agreements and other agreements and contracts, which relate to Fundacion Nelson Velasco Aguirre (NVA), the Property or which relate to the exploration, development, operation or maintenance of the Property or the treatment, storage, transaction or marketing of production from or allocated to the Property. The 105,000 hectares also consists of 100% of the right, title and interests of GEIL in and to all materials, supplies, machinery, equipment, improvements, and other personal property and fixtures relating to the Property, and all wells, wellhead equipment, pumping units, flow lines, tanks, buildings, injection facilities, salt water disposal facilities, compression facilities, gathering systems and other equipment, all easements, rights-of-way, surface leases and other surface rights, all permits and licenses and all other appurtenances, used or held for use in connection with or related to the exploration, development, operation or maintenance of any of the Property.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap stocks BluForest Inc (OTCMKTS: BLUF), Dephasium Corp (OTCMKTS: DPHS) and IceWEB, Inc (OTCBB: IWEB) have been getting some attention for at least a few weeks now thanks to paid for promotional activity. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed stock promotions, but one of these stocks also has a former shareholder who has filed a civil action against it alleging there is an illegal ��ump and dump��scheme going on. So what�� the whole story and more importantly, what will happen with these small cap stocks when the well from promoters eventually goes dry? Here is a closer look and a quick reality check:

  • [By Peter Graham]

    What�� the Catch With Multi-Corp International Inc? According to various disclosures, no transactions have occurred to mention Multi-Corp International in various investment newsletters. Moreover, I am not seeing any recent news on the newswires about the company with the latest press release dating from late July about the posting of a blanket bond. However and as I noted in an earlier about BluForest Inc (OTCMKTS: BLUF), the company has been named in a Freedom of Information request with the SEC by George Sharp (of Pumps&Dumps.com) for all complaints filed against Jim Can. George apparently contends that Jim controls BluForest along with Multi-Corp International, but the former has recently won an injunction against the latter for ��lleged, completely false, defamatory claims and statements.��Otherwise, investors should be aware that Multi-Corp International�� most recent financials date from the end of September of last year ��meaning its investor beware until they get current.

Top 10 Safest Stocks To Watch For 2014: Renishaw PLC (RSW)

Renishaw plc is a metrology company. The Company is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of advanced precision metrology and inspection equipment together with products for the healthcare sector, including Raman spectroscopy systems, dental systems, molecular diagnostic equipment and neurosurgical products. The Company operates in two segments: metrology and healthcare products. The Company�� metrology segment product include Machine Tool Probe Systems, Co-ordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) products, large scale metrology, fixtures, materials research, styli for probe systems, performance testing products, gauging and position encoders. Its healthcare products include Dental Scanners, Raman Microscopes, Dental CAD Software, Neurosurgical robot, Structural and Chemical Analyser, In situ monitors and Neurosurgical Implantables. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Inyoung Hwang]

    Renishaw Plc (RSW) tumbled 5.7 percent to 1,580 pence, its lowest price since Aug. 7. The maker of precision tools said revenue for the quarter ended in September fell to 79 million pounds from 95.9 million pounds in the year-ago period.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks To Watch Right Now

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks To Watch Right Now: Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASX)

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. is principally engaged in the manufacture, assembly, processing, testing and distribution of integrated circuits (ICs). The Company provides semiconductor packaging and testing services, including plastic leaded chip carriers (PLCCs), quad flat packages (QFPs) and flip chip packaging technology, among others, which are applied in the manufacture of household electrical appliances, communication devices, automobile components, personal computers, set top boxes, servers, memory integrated circuits (ICs), mobile phones, digital cameras, game consoles, projectors, high definition (HD) televisions, wireless communication network products and power management ICs, among others. The Company operates its businesses primarily in Taiwan, Europe and the Americas. In August 2010, the Company acquired a 100% interest in EEMS Test Singapore.

The Company is focused on packaging and testing logic semiconductors. The Company offers its customers turnkey services, which consist of packaging, testing and direct shipment of semiconductors to end users designated by its customers. The Companys global base of over 200 customers includes semiconductor companies across a range of end use applications, including Altera Corporation, ATI Technologies, Inc., Broadcom Corporation, Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited and Microsoft Corporation. During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Companys packaging revenues accounted for 77.7% of its net revenues and its testing revenues accounted for 20.1% of its net revenues.

Packaging Services

The Company offers a range of package types to meet the requirements of its customers, with a focus on packaging solutions. Within its portfolio of package types, the Company focuses on the packaging of semiconductors. These include advanced leadframe-based package types, such as quad flat package, thin quad flat pack! age, bump chip carrier and quad flat no -lead package, and package types based on substrates, such a! s flip-chip ball grid array (BGA) and other BGA types, as well as other packages, such as wafer-bumping products. Leadframe-based packages are packaged by connecting the die, using wire bonders, to the leadframe with gold wire. The Companys leadframe-based packages include quad flat package (QFP)/ thin quad flat package (TQFP), quad flat no-lead package (QFN)/microchip carrier (MCC), advanced quad flat no-lead package (AQFN), bump chip carrier (BCC), small outline plastic package (SOP)/thin small outline plastic package (TSOP), small outline plastic j-bend package (SOJ), plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC) and plastic dual in-line package (PDIP). Substrate-based packages employ the BGA design, which utilizes a substrate rather than a leadframe. It also assembles system-in-a-package products, which involve the integration of more than one chip into the same package. The Companys substrate-based packages include Plastic BGA, Cavity Down BGA, Stacked-Die BGA, Flip-Chip BGA and land grid array (LGA).

The Companys wafer-level packaging products include wafer level chip scale package (aCSP) and advanced wafer level package (aWLP). The Company offers module assembly services, which combine one or more packaged semiconductors with other components in an integrated module to enable functionality, typically using surface mount technology (SMT) machines and other machinery and equipment for system-level assembly. End use applications for modules include cellular phones, personal digital assistant (PDAs), wireless local area network (LAN) applications, bluetooth applications, camera modules, automotive applications and toys.

The Company provides module assembly services primarily at its facilities in Korea for radio frequency and power amplifier modules used in wireless communications and automotive applications. Interconnect materials connect the input/output on the semiconductor dies! to the p! rinted circuit board. Interc onnect materials include substrate, which is a multi-layer m! iniature ! printed circuit board. The Company produces substrates for use in its packaging operations.

Testing Services

The Company provides a range of semiconductor testing services, including front-end engineering testing, wafer probing, final testing of logic/mixed-signal/radio frequency (RF) and memory semiconductors and other test-related services. The Company provides front-end engineering testing services, including customized software development, electrical design validation, and reliability and failure analysis. The Company provides final testing services for a variety of memory products, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), single-bit erasable programmable read-only memory semiconductors and flash memory semiconductors.

The Company provides a range of additional test-related services, including burn-in testing, module sip testing, dry pack, tape and reel, and electric interface board and mec hanical test tool design. The Company offers drop shipment services for shipment of semiconductors directly to end users designated by its customers.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Adam Haigh]

    ASX Ltd. (ASX) posted the biggest weekly loss in 3 1/2 years, falling 6.1 percent to A$33.15, amid a A$553 million ($530 million) capital raising at the operator of Australias main stock exchange to ensure its clearing business complies with new regulations.

  • [By Jeff Reeves]

    Next Page

    Best Stocks to Buy for Around $5: Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASX)

    Advanced Semiconductor Engineering(ASX) builds and distributes integrated circuits and other electronics. While thats not as sexy as other chipmakers that play to mobile, its still a good business, considering the general demand for microchips in everything from cars to computers to TVs.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-semiconductor-stocks-to-watch-right-now.html