New record highs for the stock market have turned into a regular occurrence, so today's advance into uncharted territory isn't drawing nearly as much attention from investors as this year's first round of all-time highs did. Fairly benign data on jobless claims and a lack of troubling news from around the world generally left the stock market in bull mode, and by 10:55 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) climbed 59 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 advanced by a similar percentage.
But beneath the Dow's calm advance, there's a battle going on. Yesterday the Dow's tech stocks advanced sharply, with investors questioning whether their beaten-down valuations had too harshly penalized big technology companies for their growth challenges. Yet this morning IDC reported that PC shipments fell by 14% -- the worst quarter ever in the nearly 20 years that IDC has given data for the industry. That sent Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) down more than 6% and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) falling 2.5%, as both companies continue to rely on PCs for a big portion of their business despite their attempts to diversify their exposure into more promising areas.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Badger Meter Inc (BMI)
Badger Meter, Inc., incorporated on March 9, 1905, is a manufacturer and marketer of products incorporating flow measurement and control technologies serving markets globally. The Company's product lines fall into three categories: sales of water meters and related technologies to municipal water utilities (municipal water), sales of meters to various industries for water and other fluids (industrial flow) and sales of concrete vibrators and gas meter radios to markets (specialty products). Municipal water includes water meters and related technologies and services used by water utilities as the basis for generating water and wastewater revenues. Industrial flow includes products sold globally to measure and control materials flowing through a pipe or pipeline, including water, air, steam, oil, and other liquids and gases. Specialty products include sales of radio technology to natural gas utilities for installation on their gas meters, and concrete vibrators.
The Company's products are primarily manufactured and assembled in the Company's Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Racine, Wisconsin; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Scottsdale, Arizona; Nogales, Mexico; Neuffen, Germany; Brno, Czech Republic; and Bern, Switzerland facilities. For municipal water, residential and commercial water meters are classified as either manually read meters or remotely read meters through radio technology. A manually read meter consists of a water meter and a register that gives a visual meter reading display. Meters equipped with radio transmitters (endpoints) use encoder registers to convert the measurement data from the meter into an encrypted digital format which is then transmitted through radio frequency to a receiver that collects and formats the data appropriately for water utility billing systems. In an AMR system, a vehicle equipped for meter reading purposes, including a radio receiver, computer and reading software, collects the data from the utility's meters.
Fixed network advanced metering infrastructure (AM! I) systems continue to build interest among water utilities. These systems incorporate a network of permanent data collectors or gateway receivers that are always active or listening for the radio transmission from the utilities' meters. AMI systems eliminate the need for utility personnel to drive through service territories to collect meter reading data. These systems provide the utilities with more frequent and diverse data from the utilities' meters at specified intervals.
The Company�� advanced metering analytics (AMA), along with a host of automated utility management tools to facilitate the ability of water and gas utilities to increase their productivity and revenue, as well as proactively utilize their data. AMA is consists of ReadCenter Analytics software coupled with ORION SE two-way fixed network or GALAXY one-way fixed network technology, which is complemented by a family of accurate and reliable water meters. The ORION SE system can operate as a mobile AMR system, a fixed network AMI system, or both. Industrial flow and specialty products serve flow measurement and control applications across an industrial spectrum. Specialized communication protocols that control the entire flow measurement process drive these markets.
The Company competes with Sensus USA Inc., Neptune Technology Group, Inc., Elster AMCO Metering, LLC and Master Meter, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jeremy Bowman]
What: Shares of Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI ) weren't measuring up today, falling as much as 15% after reporting an much lower profits than expected in it first quarter.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Tenet Healthcare Corporation(THC)
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, an investor-owned health care services company, operates acute care hospitals and related health care facilities. The company?s general hospitals offer acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, clinical laboratories, and pharmacies. It also provides intensive care, critical care and/or coronary care units, physical therapy; and orthopedic, oncology, and outpatient services; tertiary care services, such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care, and neuroscience; quaternary care in areas, including heart, liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants for children; gamma-knife brain surgery; and cyberknife surgery for tumors and lesions in the brain, lung, neck, and spine. As of June 30, 2011, it operated 49 acute care hospitals, and a critical access hospital with a combined total of 13,420 licensed beds primarily serving urban and suburban communities in 11 states of the United State s. The company also owns an interest in a health maintenance organization and operate various related health care facilities, including a long-term acute care hospital and various medical office buildings; revenue cycle management and patient communications services businesses; physician practices; captive insurance companies; and other ancillary health care businesses, such as including ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers, and occupational and rural health care clinics. In addition, Tenet Healthcare Corporation owns an interest in a management services subsidiary that provides network development, utilization management, claims processing, and contract negotiation services to physician organizations and hospitals that assume managed care risk. Tenet Healthcare Corporation was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
Hospital companies, including Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC ) , which tacked on 6.5%, ran higher following an announcement that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service plans to increase acute-care reimbursements by 0.8%, as opposed to the up to 1% decline some analysts had been expecting. This marks the second time in a month that insurers have gotten a better deal than Wall Street had been expecting and continues to thwart the notion that medical costs are going to fall under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
- [By Sue Chang]
Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) �is likely to post earnings of 46 cents a share in the third quarter. The health-care services company recently completed its purchase of Vanguard Health Systems Inc. for about $4.3 billion.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC ) has agreed to pay $1.63 billion for Vanguard Health Systems (NYSE: VHS ) , a 70% premium to Vanguard's close on Friday. The deal will diversify Tenet's offerings in acute care and specialty hospitals and give it a wider geographic reach as well. Tenet is up 8.4% in premarket trading, while Vanguard has skyrocketed 64%.�
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Tenet Healthcare (THC) has dropped 2.3% to $47.23 after the hospital operator missed earnings forecasts and offered lower-than-expected guidance.
Haverty Furniture�(HVT) has gained 3.9% to $28.20 after the furniture retailer beat analyst forecasts.
Best Specialty Retail Companies To Own For 2015: Smithfield Foods Inc.(SFD)
Smithfield Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and marketing of fresh meat and packaged meats products in the United States and internationally. The company involves in the production of hog; and produces various fresh pork, beef, poultry, and packaged meats products. It sells fresh pork to retail customers as unprocessed and trimmed cuts, such as butts, loins, picnics, and ribs; packaged meats products, including smoked and boiled hams, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, and deli and luncheon meats; specialty products, such as pepperoni and dry meat products; and ready-to-eat prepared foods comprising pre-cooked entrees, and pre-cooked bacon and sausages. The company offers its products to supermarket chains; wholesale distributors; the foodservice industry, including fast food, restaurant and hotel chains, hospitals, and other institutional customers; export markets; and other further processors. It sells its products through its salespersons an d independent commission brokers. Smithfield Foods, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Dan Caplinger]
Finally, beyond the Dow, Pilgrim's Pride (NASDAQ: PPC ) soared 22% on apparent speculation that the poultry giant might be next on the chopping block as a target for a big acquisition. The proposed buyout of pork producer Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD ) by a Chinese company was controversial in large part because of the geopolitical implications of international buyers purchasing U.S. food-industry assets, but business analysts have rightly looked instead at the implications for further consolidation in the industry. With no formal announcement from Pilgrim's Pride, today's move could invite scrutiny from the SEC and other regulators should any sort of definitive buyout bid materialize in the days to come.
- [By Rick Munarriz]
Paula Deen has seen her future earnings prospects dim after her admission of using a racial slur. She lost her show. Several retailers have stopped stocking the celebrity chef's products. However, Deen has also lost lucrative endorsements with casino operator Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR ) and packaged pork products producer Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD ) .
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Dell Inc.(DELL)
Dell Inc. provides integrated technology solutions in the information technology (IT) industry worldwide. It designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports mobility and desktop products, including notebooks, workstations, tablets, smartphones, and desktop PCs, as well as servers and networking products. The company offers storage solutions, including storage area networks, network-attached storage, direct-attached storage, and various backup systems. It also provides IT and business services comprising transactional services, such as support, managed deployment, enterprise installation, and configuration services; outsourcing services, including data center and systems management, network management, life cycle application development and management, and business process outsourcing services; and project-based services consisting of IT infrastructure, applications, business process, and business consulting services. In addition, the company offers third-part y software products comprising operating systems, business and office applications, anti-virus and related security software, and entertainment software; and peripheral products, such as printers, televisions, notebook accessories, mouse, keyboards, networking and wireless products, and digital cameras. Further, it provides financial services, including originating, collecting, and servicing customer receivables related to the purchase of its products and third-party technology products. The company sells its products and services directly through its sales representatives, telephone-based sales, and online sales; and through retailers, third-party solution providers, system integrators, and third-party resellers. It serves corporate businesses, law enforcement agencies, small and medium businesses, consumers, and public institutions that include government, education, and healthcare organizations. Dell Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Sean Williams]
But, just as Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman has been heralded for finding great deals and delivering big returns to shareholders, he should be praised for knowing when to walk away as well. Earlier this year, for instance, Blackstone made a $15 per share bid to acquire a majority stake in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL ) as a competing bid to Silver Lake Partners and CEO Michael Dell's $13.65 per share cash bid. Blackstone wisely walked away from its bid after an IDC report noted that PC sales fell 14% in the first quarter and the PC business was deteriorating faster than anyone had first imagined because of smartphones and tablets.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Susser Holdings Corporation(SUSS)
Susser Holdings Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates convenience stores in Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. The company operates in two segments, Retail and Wholesale. The Retail segment operates convenience stores that offer merchandise, food service, and motor fuel, as well as provides other services, including car washes, lottery, ATM, money orders, prepaid phone cards and wireless services, and movie rentals. As of January 1, 2012, it operated 541 convenience stores under the Stripes brand name. The Wholesale segment distributes motor fuel to its retail convenience stores, contracted independent operators of convenience stores, unbranded convenience stores, unattended fueling facilities, and other end users in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. The company also offers environmental, maintenance, and construction management services to the petroleum industry; and sells and installs motor fuel dispensers and tanks, as well as provides a range of environmental consulting services, such as hydrocarbon remediation, and Phase I and II site assessments for its stores and outside customers. Susser Holdings Corporation is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Susser Holdings (NYSE: SUSS) shares shot up 35.74 percent to $77.41 after Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) announced its plans to acquire Susser Holdings in a deal valued at around $1.8 billion.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Occidental Petroleum Corporation(OXY)
Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an oil and gas exploration and production company primarily in the United States. The company operates in three segments: Oil and Gas; Chemical; and Midstream, Marketing, and Other. The Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and condensate and natural gas. Its domestic oil and gas operations are located in Texas, New Mexico, California, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, and West Virginia; and international oil and gas operations are located in Bahrain, Bolivia, Colombia, Iraq, Libya, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. As of December 31, 2010, this segment had proved reserves of approximately 3,363 million barrels of oil equivalent. The Chemical segment manufactures and markets basic chemicals, including chlorine, caustic soda, chlorinated organics, potassium chemicals, and ethylene dichloride products; vinyls, such as vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride; and other chemicals comprising chlorinated isocyanurates, resorcinol, sodium silicates, and calcium chloride products. The Midstream, Marketing, and Other segment gathers, treats, processes, transports, stores, purchases, and markets crude oil that includes natural gas liquids and condensate, as well as natural gas and carbon dioxide. This segment also involves in the power generation; and trades around its assets comprising pipelines and storage capacity, as well as oil and gas, other commodities, and commodity-related securities. Occidental Petroleum Corporation was founded in 1920 and is based in Los Angeles, California.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Tony Daltorio]
They constitute some of the best investments in energy now. Notice how they dominate a list of the leading producers in the three most prolific oil basins over the last year:
Bakken: Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR), Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: WLL), and Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES). Permian Basin: Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD), and Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA). Eagle Ford: EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG), and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK).Two stocks from this list that investors should focus on are EOG Resources and Cabot Oil & Gas.
- [By Eric Volkman]
The long dividend pipeline of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY ) continues to flow. The company has declared its latest distribution, which is to be $0.64 per share paid on October 15 to shareholders of record as of September 10. That amount matches both of the firm's previous two disbursements, the most recent of which is set to be paid on July 15. Prior to that, Occidental was less generous by $.10, handing out $0.54 per share.
- [By Jonathan Yates]
That has pushed the price of major oil companies such as ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) lower in response. There are three main reasons why investors should look upon these falling prices as an opportunity to buy oil company stocks at a discount for the long-term.
- [By Matt DiLallo]
As you can see, Apache trades at a pretty compelling discount to its large-cap E&P peers like Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN ) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY ) , which trade at about 5.5 times estimated 2013 EBITDA. By trading at just four times EBITDA, Apache is in line with ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP ) , though it's still not nearly as cheap as Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO ) .
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Asante Gold Corp (ASE)
Asante Gold Corporation is a mineral exploration company involved in the acquisition and assessment of mineral properties in the Republic of Ghana. The Company is a gold royalty, exploration and development company. The Company is focused in Ghana, West Africa where it is exploring the Fahiakoba concession, a 22.07 square kilometers prospecting license located on strike with and between Perseus Mining's 4.32 million ounce Edikan Mine and AngloGold Ashanti's 60 million ounce Obuasi mine. It has a 100% interest in the Fahiakoba concession. ASG Mining Ltd. is the Company�� 100% owned Ghana subsidiary. Advisors' Opinion:- [By Namitha Jagadeesh]
Greece�� ASE Index (ASE) retreated 4 percent today, pulled down by shares of lenders. National Bank of Greece SA tumbled 27 percent to 1.15 euros after announcing details of a share sale. Piraeus Bank SA slid 21 percent to 36 euro cents.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: Heidrick & Struggles International Inc (HSII)
Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (Heidrick & Struggles) is an advisory firm providing executive search and leadership consulting services. As of December 31, 2011, the Company provided its services to a range of clients through the expertise of 347 consultants located in various cities around the world. The Company�� service offerings include executive search, leadership consulting and client base. The Company helps its clients build leadership teams by facilitating the recruitment, management and deployment of senior executives. In addition to executive search, it provides a range of leadership consulting services to clients. These services include succession planning, executive assessment, talent retention management, executive development, transition consulting for newly appointed executives, and mergers and acquisitions human capital integration consulting. In November 2013, Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc announced the acquisition of Scambler MacGregor.
The Company�� clients includes clients include Fortune 1000 companies, non-United States companies, middle market and emerging growth companies, governmental, higher education and not-for-profit organizations and other private and public entities. Heidrick & Struggles provides senior-level executive search and leadership consulting services to its clients worldwide through a network of more than 69 offices in 40 countries. The locations are staffed with consultants, research associates, administrative assistants and other support staff. Administrative functions are centralized where possible, although certain support and research functions are situated regionally because of variations in local requirements.
The Company�� worldwide network includes affiliate relationships in Finland, South Africa, Turkey and Portugal. It has no financial investment in these affiliates but receive licensing fees from them for the use of its name and its databases. Licensing fees are less than 1% of its net revenue. As ! of December 31, 2011, the Company had 160 consultants in its Americas segment, which included New York, Chicago and Atlanta. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 104 consultants in its European segment, which included the United Kingdom, Germany and France. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had 83 consultants in itsAsia Pacific segment, which included China (including Hong Kong), Australia and Singapore. The Company�� executive search business operates in six broad industry groups: Financial Services, Industrial, Consumer Markets, Global Technology and Services, Life Sciences, and Education and Social Enterprise.
Its executive search consultants also specialize in searches for specific C-level functional positions, which are roles that generally report directly to the chief executive officer. These include chief financial officers, chief information officers, chief legal officers, chief marketing officers and chief human resources officers. The Company�� Global Functional Practices include Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors; Chief Human Resources Officers; Financial Officers; Information Officers; Interim Executives; Legal, Risk, Compliance & Government Affairs; Marketing, Sales & Strategy Officers; Multicultural & Digital Marketing; Sales Officers; Research & Development; and Supply Chain & Transportation.
The Company competes with Egon Zehnder International, Korn/Ferry International, Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. and Spencer Stuart & Associates.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By GuruFocus]
Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (HSII): Interim CEO Jory J. Marino Bought 9,917 Shares
Interim CEO of Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. (HSII) Jory J. Marino bought 9,917 shares on 08/23/2013 at an average price of $15.03. Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. was formed as a Delaware corporation in 1999. Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. has a market cap of $272.497 million; its shares were traded at around $15.03 with a P/E ratio of 61.73 and P/S ratio of 0.58. The dividend yield of Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. stocks is 3.46%.
- [By Anders Bylund]
And if you thought this crack team would look only at internal promotion candidates, headhunter firm Heidrick & Struggles (NASDAQ: HSII ) is there to vet the field of outsider candidates. It's a high-profile contract for Heidrick, but the stock fell 0.7% today anyhow. The lack of popping champagne corks in the company's Chicago headquarters is an indication of just how tough this recruitment drive will be.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: 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 John Kell and Lauren Pollock var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); ]
News Corp(NWSA) acquired Handpicked Cos., a luxury-shopping website in the U.K., continuing the newspaper publisher’s push into new online tools and resources. Handpicked, which launched its website in 2007, sells home decor, children’s toys and gifts. News Corp said the site’s offerings will be promoted through two of News Corp’s U.K. publications, The Times and The Sunday Times.
Top US Stocks To Buy For 2015: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ)
WisdomTree Japan Total Dividend Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree Japan Dividend Index (The Index).
The Index is a fundamentally weighted Index that measures the performance of dividend-paying companies incorporated in Japan, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and that meet other requirements necessary to be included in the WisdomTree DEFA Index. The Fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By KIPLINGER]
Investors seeking to cash in on the Japanese stock market face a Catch-22. The government is trying to goose the economy by, among other things, lowering the value of the yen, a move designed to make Japanese exporters more competitive (see Japan�� Rebound Is for Real). But a falling yen harms U.S. investors because money they have in Japanese securities translates back into fewer bucks. Enter WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ), an exchange-traded fund that invests in the stocks of dividend-paying Japanese firms that have a market value of at least $100 million.
- [By Philip Springer, President, Retirement Wealth Management, Inc.]
The other alternative is WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ). As the name suggests, it's the better alternative when the yen is declining. This fund is up 23% so far in 2013, compared with 15.5% for the iShares ETF.
- [By Jim Lowell]
First Trust US IPO is US-centric and a great complement to my more speculative pick, WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity (DXJ), which is made up of dividend paying Japanese companies and an inbuilt hedge against Yen movements versus our almighty US dollar.
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