Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now

On this day in economic and business history ...

Fredrik Idestam began building a wood-pulp mill to make paper on the banks of a Finnish river on May 12, 1865. Three years later, demand was high enough to build a second mill, on a different river. That second river, the Nokianvirta, gave its name to the company he helped create, when it went public in 1871: Nokia (NYSE: NOK  ) . This was also the first year of a century-plus streak of uninterrupted dividend payments. At this point, Nokia had another manager, Leo Mechelin, who helped build the company into Finland's preeminent paper maker, and under the duo's leadership Nokia became a leader of the emerging Finnish paper-products cartel.

Idestam's retirement in 1896 was fortuitous for Mechelin, who'd pushed his partner to enter the electricity-generation business only to be rebuffed. The way was now clear to diversify, and over the following 15 years two other companies also arose on the banks of the Nokianvirta that would soon become part of Nokia's expanding enterprise. By 1922, Nokia was the corporate parent of three jointly owned lines of business: the original pulp mill (now with electricity), a rubber manufactory, and a cable manufacturer -- the latter of which formed the foundation of Nokia's eventual mobile empire.

Top High Tech Stocks To Watch For 2015: Imation Corp (IMN)

Imation Corp. (Imation) is a global scalable storage and data security company. The Company�� portfolio includes tiered storage and security offerings for business and products designed to manage audio and video information in the home. The Company�� global brand portfolio includes the Imation brand, the Memorex brand, the XtremeMac and MXI Security brands. Imation is also the exclusive licensee of the TDK Life on Record brand. Its three product categories include traditional storage, secure and scalable storage, and audio and video information. It operates in four geographic segments: Americas, Europe, North Asia and South Asia. On February 28, 2011, it acquired all of the assets of Encryptx Corporation. On June 4, 2011, it acquired the assets of MXI Security, from Memory Experts International Inc. On October 4, 2011 it acquired the secure data storage hardware assets of IronKey Systems Inc. In December 2011, it acquired the data deduplication technology from Nine Technology.

The Americas segment includes North America, Central America and South America. The Europe segment includes Europe and parts of Africa. North Asia segment includes Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. The South Asia segment includes Australia, Singapore, India, the Middle East and parts of Africa.

Imation brand products include magnetic tape media, recordable compact discs (CDs), digital versatile Discs (DVDs) and Blu-ray discs, flash products and hard disk drives. The Imation brand includes the DataGuard Data Protection Appliances, InfiniVault Storage appliances and removable disk technology (RDX) removable hard disk storage systems. Imation Defender products include secure storage flash drives and external hard drives. Imation brand products are sold throughout the worldwide and target the commercial user and individual consumer. Imation Defender products include secure storage flash drives and external hard drives. TDK Life on Record brand products include recordable CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray d! iscs, flash drives, tape cartridges, headphones and computer speakers which are sold to commercial customers and individual consumers. TDK Life on Record brand products is sold throughout the world.

XtremeMac brand products include cases, chargers and audio solutions to protect, power and play Apple iPad, iPod, iPhone and other devices. XtremeMac products are developed for Apple enthusiasts and are available worldwide. Its MXI Security brand includes secure storage flash drives and external hard drives, as well as software solutions to help manage portable security devices on the network.

Traditional Storage

The Company�� optical media products consist of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray recordable media. It sells Blu-ray discs, which are used primarily for recording high-definition video content. Its recordable optical media products are sold through a variety of retail and commercial distribution channels and sourced from manufacturers primarily in Taiwan and India. Optical storage capacities range from 650 megabyte CD-R (recordable) and CD-RW (rewritable) optical discs to 9.4 gigabyte double-sided DVD optical discs and Blu-ray discs with 25 gigabyte to 100 gigabyte of capacity. Its optical media is sold throughout the world under brands it owns or controls, including Imation, Memorex and TDK Life on Record and under a distribution agreement for the Hewlett Packard brand.

The Company�� magnetic tape media products are used for back-up, business and operational continuity planning, disaster recovery, near-line data storage and retrieval and for mass and archival storage. Other traditional storage products include primarily optical drives and audio and video tape media.

Secure and Scalable Storage

Secure storage products and software include universal serial bus (USB) flash drives and external hard drives designed to meet the security standards to protect data at rest with Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) validation, pa! ssword an! d biometric authentication, including biometric USB drives, encrypted and biometric hard disk drives, secure portable desktop solutions and software solutions. It also sells standard USB flash drives and external hard disk drives throughout the world under its Imation, Memorex and TDK Life on Record brands. It sources these products from manufacturers primarily in Asia and the United States and sell them through a variety of retail and commercial distribution channels around the world. Scalable storage products include data protection appliances, such as DataGuard network attached storage backup appliances and InfiniVault active archive appliances.

Audio and Video Information

The Company�� audio and video information products include Apple iPad, iPod and iPhone accessories, headphones, CD players, alarm clocks, portable boom boxes, moving picture experts group layer-3 audio (MP3) players, and speakers sold under the Memorex, TDK Life on Record and XtremeMac brands. It designs products to meet user needs and source these products from manufacturers throughout Asia.

The Company competes with Maxell, JVC, Sony, Verbatim, Fuji, HP, SanDisk, Lexar, PNY and Kingston.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  As cyber theft and hacking continues to grow, mir or small cap stocks like Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK), Imation Corp (NYSE: IMN) and Staffing 360 Solutions Inc (OTCBB: STAF)�are some overlooked, indirect or just plain interesting plays on cybersecurity that investors might want to take note of:

• [By Geoff Gannon] g>4. Tuesday Morning (TUES)
  5. Pacific Biosciences (PACB)
  6. Maxygen (MAXY)
  7. Westell (WSTL)
  8. Volt Information Sciences (VISI)
  9. Yasheng Group (YHGG)

  I don�� love that list. I like the 14 past picks in the Ben Graham Net-Net Newsletter�� model portfolio much better. The newsletter only owns 1 of those 9 net-nets. Remember, we have 9 net-nets out of the 14 picked for the newsletter that are trading below where we picked them. So, obviously I like those 9 net-nets a lot better than these 9 net-nets.

  Like I said, I wouldn�� encourage you to buy those nine net-nets shown here ��even if you��e looking to put a lot of money into net-nets. Instead you should look at your favorite net-nets ��or the net-nets in the Ben Graham: Net-Net Newsletter ��and use them as a buy list you are constantly placing orders from month after month.

  Building a diversified collection of net-net through many months of purchasing is a better way to invest a lot of money in net-nets than trying to focus on the biggest net-nets.

  Read Geoff�� Other Articles
  Ask Geoff a Question
  Check out the Buffe

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: Freescale Semiconductor Inc (FSL)

Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. provides embedded processing solutions for automotive, networking, industrial, and consumer markets worldwide. The company�s embedded processor products comprise microcontrollers, such as ultra low power, low end 8-bit, and 32-bit products with on-board flash memory, which provide the digital logic or intelligence for electronic applications; single-and multi-core microprocessors; and applications processors with embedded memory, and special purpose hardware and software for multimedia applications. It also offers wireless connectivity products for low power wireless communications functionality; communications processors that perform tasks related to control and management of digital data, and network interfaces; and radio frequency (RF) devices, which consist of power transistors, amplifiers, receivers, and tuners for amplifying RF signals. In addition, the company provides analog, mixed-signal, and power management integrated circuits (ICs ) that include switches, power management devices, battery and motor control devices, CAN/LIN network transceivers, and signal conditioners that perform audio processing, backlight management/control, power management, and charging functions; sensors comprising pressure, inertial, magnetic, and proximity sensors, which act as an interface between an embedded system and external environment; and cellular products consisting of baseband processors, power management ICs, and RF subsystems. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, distributors, original design manufacturers, and contract manufacturers through its direct sales force and distributors. The company was formerly known as Freescale Semiconductor Holdings I, Ltd. and changed its name to Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. in April 2012. The company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Freescale Semiconductor, Ltd. is a subsidiary of Freescale Holdings L.P.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  The Internet of Things is about to get a little smaller. Make that a lot smaller -- so small you could put it on a pill and become a thing on the Internet yourself. Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL  ) unveiled a new ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMH  ) -based microcontroller chip last month, dubbed the Kinetis KL02, that has everything necessary on board to produce, track, record, and analyze the essential information that device creators might need in a package smaller than your pinky toenail. That's it over to the left -- all 1.9 millimeters by 2 millimeters of it.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Freescale Semiconductor Ltd. (NYSE: FSL) also has a less than 10% exposure in sales to Cisco. With a large percentage of sales, totaling close to 30% to the growing automotive sector, Freescale may be able to dodge lower orders for its digital networking chips. The consensus price target for the stock is $19.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The real key for TI will be whether its analog chips can gain greater application. General Electric's Industrial Internet project continues to move forward, and connecting networks of machines in order to improve communication and gather data should require plenty of sensor-chips of the type in which TI specializes. Moreover, Cisco Systems and its Internet of Things initiative also have promise both for TI and for Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL  ) , which came out with a new microcontroller chip earlier this year that could potentially work together with TI-made Wi-Fi transmitted chips to facilitate communication. Freescale is tiny compared to TI, but a partnership there could help both companies make more from the opportunity than they could separately.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  What: Shares of Freescale (NYSE: FSL  ) have skyrocketed today by upwards of 12% after the semiconductor specialist posted first-quarter earnings results.

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY)

SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (the Fund) seeks to replicate the price and yield of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index (the Index). The Index is designed to measure the performance of 50 highest dividend yielding S&P Composite 1500 constituents that have followed a managed-dividends policy of consistently increasing dividends every year for at least 25 years. These stocks have both capital growth and dividend income characteristics.

The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing approach and attempts to approximate the investment performance of its benchmark index, by investing in a portfolio of stocks intended to replicate the Index. SSgA Funds Management, Inc. acts as the Adviser of the Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Pyke]

  If you recall my previous article that looked at iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY) and SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY), there is an interesting comparison. While both SDY and DVY were underweight in Energy-Oils by substantial margin, both VIG and VYM are overweight in this sector. VIG has a 13.2% of its assets and VYM is at 13.0% relative to the market at 10.5%.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  So if two single people each earned $200,000, they wouldn't be subject to the Obamacare tax at all. But if they got married, then $150,000 of their total income of $400,000 would get taxed, with an additional tax liability of $1,350. Similar situations with investment income could lead to a much larger marriage penalty, as the investment tax rate is more than quadruple the rate for wages.�Investors in dividend-oriented ETFs Vanguard High Dividend Yield (NYSEMKT: VYM  ) , SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) , and iShares DJ Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) should therefore take care to consider tax-favored investment vehicles for their investments.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investing in dividend stocks is easy. Exchange-traded funds Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG  ) , iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend (NYSEMKT: DVY  ) , and SPDR S&P Dividend (NYSEMKT: SDY  ) give you low-cost access to dozens or even hundreds of dividend-paying stocks, all within a single investment vehicle. If you prefer, you can also buy individual stocks, either through a broker or through direct investment plans. Blue-chip companies General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are just two of the hundreds of stocks that offer shares through direct plans and allow you to reinvest dividends automatically in additional shares at no fee.

• [By Michael A. Gayed]

  Despite big swings up and down, money may finally be starting to pay attention. There has been notable improvement in defensive sectors which seem to be on the verge of reversing their divestment relative behavior. Take a look below at the price ratio of the SPDR S&P Dividend Index ETF (SDY) relative to the S&P 500 (SPY). As a reminder, a rising price ratio means the numerator/SDY is outperforming (up more/down less) the denominator/SPY.

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX)

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc.( Helix), incorporated on November 17,1983, is an international offshore energy company that provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry, with a focus on its growing well intervention and robotics operations. The Company had had two business segments: Contracting Services and Production Facilities. Its Contracting Services seek to provide services and methodologies which it believes are critical to developing offshore reservoirs and maximizing production economi regions. Its Production Facilities segment consists of its majority ownership of a dynamically positioned floating production vessel ( Helix Producer I or HP I). In June 2013, Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc closed the previously announced sale of its pipelay vessel, the Caesar, to Trevaskis Ltd.

In January 2012, it sold its oil and gas properties within the Main Pass area of the Gulf of Mexico. On September 26, 2012, the Company sold its pipelay vessel, Intrepid, to Stabbert Maritime Holdings, LLC. On February 6, 2013, it sold Energy Resource Technology GOM, Inc. (ERT), a former wholly-owned United States subsidiary that conducted its oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Contracting Services Operations

The Company provides services and methodologies which it believes are critical to developing offshore reservoirs and maximizing production economics. Its life of field services are segregated into four disciplines: well intervention, robotics, subsea construction and production facilities. It provides a full range of contracting services primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Asia Pacific and West Africa regions primarily in deepwater.

The Company's services include production, which includes inspection, repair and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines and subsea equipment, well intervention, life of field support and intervention engineering; reclamation and remediation services include pluggin! g and abandonment services, pipeline abandonment services and site inspections; installation of subsea pipelines, flowlines, control umbilicals, manifold assemblies and risers, pipelay and burial, installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly, commissioning, testing and inspection, and cable and umbilical lay and connection. It provides oil and natural gas processing services to oil and natural gas companies, primarily those operating in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico using its HP I vessel. The HP I is being utilized to process production from the Phoenix.

The Company engineers, manages and conducts well construction, intervention and asset retirement operations in water depths ranging from 200 to 10,000 feet. Three of its vessels serve as work platforms for well intervention services at costs that are typically significantly less than offshore drilling rigs. In the Gulf of Mexico, its multi-service semi-submersible vessel, the Q4000, has set a series of well intervention firsts in increasingly deeper water without the use of a traditional drilling rig. In August 2012, it acquired the Discoverer 534 drillship from a subsidiary of Transocean Ltd.

The Company operates remotely operated vehicles ( ROVs), trenchers and ROVDrills designed for offshore construction and well intervention services. As global marine construction support moves to deeper water. Its chartered vessels add value by supporting deployment of its ROVs. It provides its customers with vessel availability and schedule flexibility to meet the technological challenges of their subsea activities worldwide. Its robotics assets include 49 ROVs, four trencher systems and two ROVDrills. It operate in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Asia Pacific and West Africa regions. It charters four vessels to support its robotics operations and it has engaged additional vessels on short-term (spot) charters as needed. In 2012, its robotics operations had 377 vessel utilization days and 16% of global revenues derived from! alternat! ive energy contracts. Subsea construction services include the use of umbilical lay and pipelay vessels and ROVs to develop fields in the deepwater.

The Company owns interests in two production facilities in hub locations where there is potential for subsea tieback activity. It has invested in two over-sized facilities that allow the operators of these fields to tie back without burdening the operator of the hub reservoir. It owns a 50% interest in Deepwater Gateway, which owns the Marco Polo TLP located in 4,300 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. It also owns a 20% interest in Independence Hub which owns the Independence Hub platform, a 105-foot deep draft, semi-submersible platform located in a water depth of 8,000 feet that serves as a regional hub for up to one billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas production per day from multiple ultra-deepwater fields in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The Company competes with Oceaneering International, Inc., Saipem S.p.A., Fugro N.V., DOF ASA, Aker Solutions ASA, Subsea 7 S.A., Technip, McDermott International, Inc., Island Offshore and Edison Chouest Offshore Companies.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Smith]

  Helix Energy Solutions Group (NYSE: HLX  )
  At $2.70 billion in market capitalization, Helix is equidistant between Flotek and Superior from a size perspective. The company operates through two segments: contracting services and production facilities.

• [By GuruFocus]

  Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX): PRESIDENT & CEO Owen E Kratz Bought 50,000 Shares PRESIDENT & CEO of Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc (HLX) Owen E Kratz bought 50,000 shares on 10/24/2013 at an average price of $24.03. Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc has a market cap of $2.54 billion; its shares were traded at around $24.03 with and P/S ratio of 2.96.

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: Royal Gold Inc.(RGLD)

Royal Gold, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, acquires and operates precious metals royalties. The company owns royalty interests in various production, development, evaluation, and exploration stage projects, which explore for gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc metals. It holds royalty interests in properties located in the United States, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Finland, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Russia Federation, Spain, and Tunisia. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in Denver, Colorado.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD  ) is converting some of its namesake precious metal into cash for its shareholders. For its Q3, the company has declared a common stock dividend of $0.20 per share. This will be handed out on July 19 to shareholders of record as of July 5. That amount matches both of the firm's previous two distributions, the most recent of which was paid in April.

• [By Itinerant]

  Barrick Gold also has obligations to pay Royal Gold (RGLD) a royalty on some of the precious metal output from the mine once operational; and more importantly, the company has given a completion guarantee to Silver Wheaton (SLW) as part of a deal that saw Silver Wheaton contribute $625M towards capex in 2009 in exchange to buy 25% of the produced silver for a discounted price of $3.90. If the mine is not completed by December 31, 2015, then Silver Wheaton has the right to ask for its money back. Silver Wheaton will be thinking of ways to manage its share of the disaster as confirmation has now been given that Pascua-Lama will not be completed by that dead line. For the moment, Silver Wheaton has extended the deadline by one year to December 31, 2016, and has reduced the guidance for 2017.

• [By Dave Kranzler]

  Based on all these factors, not only am I more confident that Friday, June 28 marked the bottom of this brutal 2-year correction in the precious metals, but I am also confident that the next secular bull market move higher will take gold to a new record high. If you agree with my outlook, the best way to play a trading move is to get long GLD or long-dated calls on GLD. I also recommend that everyone who wants to preserve their wealth and use gold as an investment should accumulate physical gold and silver. You can express a leveraged view on gold by getting long Royal Gold (RGLD), which is a large gold mining royalty company that benefits on a "leveraged" basis as the price of gold moves higher.

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Royal Gold Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is a contrarian play that makes the UBS list. The company is a precious metals royalty company engaged in the acquisition and management of precious metal royalties and similar interests. The company’s portfolio consists of 202 properties on six continents, including interests on 36 producing mines and 21 development stage projects. Investors are paid a 1.2% dividend. The consensus price target is $70.99. Royal Gold closed Wednesday at $68.50.

Top Gas Utility Companies To Invest In Right Now: iShares North American Tech-Software ETF (IGV)

iShares S&P North American Technology-Software Index Fund (the Fund), formerly, iShares S&P GSTI Software Index, seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance as represented by the S&P North American Technology-Software Index (the Index). The Index has been developed as an equity benchmark for United States-traded, software-related stocks.

The Index includes companies that are producers of client/server applications, enterprise software, Internet software, personal computer and entertainment software. The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap cloud and enterprise services stock Rally Software Development Corp (NYSE: RALY) just had a reversal ��meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with potential performance benchmarks like Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL), iShares North American Tech-Software (NYSEARCA: IGV) and First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index (NASDAQ: SKYY).

• [By John Udovich]

  Although Small cap Synacor Inc (NASDAQ: SYNC) calls itself the place "where Tech, Hollywood and Madison Avenue meet in the cloud,��its not exactly been a blockbuster for investors���meanings its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential benchmarks like the First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index (NASDAQ: SKYY), iShares North American Tech-Software (NYSEARCA: IGV) and Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap Synacor Inc (NASDAQ: SYNC) says its "where Tech, Hollywood and Madison Avenue meet in the cloud��but its not exactly been a blockbuster for investors���meanings its worth taking a closer look at the stock along with the performance of potential benchmarks like the First Trust ISE Cloud Computing Index (NASDAQ: SKYY), iShares North American Tech-Software (NYSEARCA: IGV) and Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q2 2014 earnings report for software stock Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE), a potential peer or performance benchmark of other software stocks or players like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Autodesk, Inc (NASDAQ: ADSK) and iShares S&P GSTI Software Index Fund (NYSEARCA: IGV), is scheduled for after the market closes on Tuesday. Aside from the Adobe Systems Incorporated earnings report, it should be said that Microsoft Corporation reported Q3 2014 earnings on April 24th (FYQ3 revenues and�EPS beat; cloud revenue doubled; Q4 view was light) and Autodesk, Inc reported Q1 2015 earnings on�May 15th (Q1 revenues beat and�earnings met�estimates). The last time Adobe Systems reported earnings, it beat expectations thanks to strong adoption of Creative Cloud and Adobe Marketing Cloud as the�company has been shifting away from from physical products to cloud-based software that users subscribe to.