5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now

You're no longer allowed to open a joint credit card at Chase. Other banks, including HSBC and Capital One, stopped offering this option years ago.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Chase will no longer allow customers to open joint credit cards, a popular option for couples who want to share equal responsibility for payments.

The issuer recently pulled the plug on the option in order to "simplify" its offerings, according to a Chase spokesman. Instead of opening a joint credit card, customers will have to add their spouse, partner or anyone else they want as an authorized user to an account. Existing customers who already have joint accounts will not be impacted, however.

As joint cardholders, both people are equally liable for the amount owed. However, when there is an authorized user on the card, only the primary account holder is liable for payments. That means they run the risk of getting stuck with the payments should the relationship end. In both scenarios, the card typically appears on the credit reports of both parties and has an equal impact on their credit scores.

Top 5 Bank Companies To Watch In Right Now: Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc (AHT)

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. is a publicly owned real estate investment trust. The firm engages in investment and management of properties in the hospitality industry. It invests in the real estate markets of the United States. The firm primarily invests in hotels with a focus on the ownership of upper-upscale and upscale full-service and select service hotels in primary, secondary and resort markets. It also invests in mid-scale and luxury hotels. The firm invests across all segments and at all levels of the capital structure, including direct hotel investments, first mortgages, mezzanine loans, construction loans, and sale-leaseback transactions. It primarily concentrates among Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood brands. Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. was founded in 1968 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Seeking to create clarity for investors by creating a company focused solely on the luxury hotel segment, Ashford Hospital Trust (NYSE: AHT  ) announced yesterday it was spinning off eight of its properties into a new real estate investment trust to be called Ashford Hospitality Prime.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  A classic example was the preferred shares of Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) during the financial crisis. The D series, for example, fell under $7. An astute investor would have recognized the company was in far better shape than its peers, bought the preferred stocks at that price and seen a huge capital gain appreciation.

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  Now, onto those preferred stocks to buy:

  Preferred Stocks to Buy: Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) Series D 8.45% Cumulative

  Dividend Yield: 8.45%

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals (FERC)

Ferchem Egypt Fertilizers and Chemicals is an Egypt-based company engaged in the establishment and operation of a factory for mixing and packaging of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides and hormones, as well as other agricultural related activities. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  Cheniere also has received other good news on Corpus Christi. To get a permit for the unrestricted export of liquefied natural gas, a facility has to win approval from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). DOE has accelerated its permit process, but FERC approval has become a major bottleneck, since the commission needs to coordinate studies from several other agencies before it can complete its review. Cheniere has recently received a scheduling notice from FERC, which looks to put that facility on track for a permit ruling by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP (BIP)

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. engages in the utilities, transportation and energy, and timber businesses. It operates through Utilities, Transport, Energy, and Timber segments. The company operates a port facility that exports metallurgical and thermal coal mined in the central Bowen Basin region of Queensland, Australia; approximately 9,900 kilometers of electricity transmission lines in North and South America; and approximately 2.5 million electricity and natural gas connections in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Colombia. It is also involved in the transportation of freight, bulk commodities, and passengers through a platform of approximately 5,100 kilometers of tracks in southwest region of Western Australia; 3,200 kilometres of toll roads in Brazil and Chile; and approximately 30 port terminals primarily in Europe. In addition, the company provides energy transportation, distribution, and storage services through 15,500 kilometers of natural gas transm ission lines primarily in the United States. Further, it engages in the timberland operations with approximately 343,000 net acres of freehold timberlands located in the coastal region of British Columbia, Canada; and the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Limited serves as a general partner of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Toronto, Canada. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. is a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Over the weekend Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM  ) announced that it and its affiliate Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP  ) are selling the Longview Timber business to Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY  ) for $2.65 billion. The deal consisted of 645,000 acres of high-quality timberlands in the Pacific Northwest. While these timber assets are located in the U.S., as you will see this deal is all about China.

• [By Federico Zaldua]

  I expect the Brookfield Group of Companies, which is composed of no fewer than 15 publicly traded entities, to be very active acquisitive in the near-term future. Here I focus my attention on three members of the Brookfield Group that are going to be the most active with M&A. While Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) will concentrate its M&A efforts into all geographies and all asset classes, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners (BEP) and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) will concentrate on their respective industries. Let's see whether you should go long on any of this separate -although related - entities.
  
  Good Operational Performance
  
  Brookfield Asset Management, held by Lou Simpson and Ron Baron, counts with a liquidity position of more than $5 billion at the parent and principal subsidiaries along with nearly $10 billion drawable private fund commitments. More importantly, the company has expressed its interest into using this liquidity to make acquisitions. Management clearly stated in its letter to shareholders:

• [By Mike Arnold]

  Brookfield is a recent spin-off (April 2013) from Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) ("BAM"), who has a history of spinning out businesses which subsequently outperform. For a case study, one might take a look at Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) as part of their due diligence procedures, which has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 since its listing.

• [By John Heinzl]

  Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP) was one of six stocks I discussed in a recent column about companies that are poised to raise their dividends. Unlike the others, however, BIP isn't a corporation, but a limited partnership, and its distributions��hey aren't technically dividends��re treated differently for tax purposes.

5 Best Electric Utility Stocks To Own Right Now: MakeMyTrip Limited(MMYT)

MakeMyTrip Limited, an online travel company, provides travel products and solutions in India and the United States. Its products and services include air tickets, hotels, packages, rail tickets, bus tickets, car hire, and ancillary travel requirements, such as travel insurance and visa processing. The company, through its Website, makemytrip.com, allow travelers to research, plan, and book a range of travel services and products in India and internationally. MakeMyTrip Limited also provides its products and services through other technology-enhanced distribution channels, such as call centers, travel stores, and travel agents? network. Its customers comprise leisure travelers and small businesses. The company was formerly known as International Web Travel Private Limited and changed its name to MakeMyTrip Limited in April 2010. MakeMyTrip Limited was founded in 2000 and is based in Gurgaon, India.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Faisal Humayun]

  In one of my earlier articles, I had discussed the long-term prospects for make MakeMyTrip (MMYT) and also the growth the company has witnessed with strong presence in India. An increasing presence in the Asia Pacific region will boost Expedia�� growth as well and the acquisition is a positive step in that direction. Priceline (PCLN) has also adopted a similar growth strategy for expanding in the Asia Pacific and it is working for the company.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Shutterstock/Andrey Burmakin Folks are turning to the Internet more and more in planning business trips and personal getaways -- and investors are cashing in on the trend. Shares of Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) soared 18 percent last week after posting better than expected quarterly results. Revenue climbing 4 percent and profitability clocking in at 5 cents a share may not seem very impressive, but analysts were settling for the volatile travel portal to merely break even on flattish revenue growth. Strength in its hotel bookings were more than enough to offset weakness in airline reservations. Orbitz Worldwide's larger and faster-growing peers priceline.com (PCLN) and Expedia (EXPE) went along for the ride, climbing 7 percent and 4 percent respectively. They both went on to hit new all-time highs. Seeing an industry laggard start to grow profitably again -- and Orbitz Worldwide is calling for modest continued growth into 2014 -- was enough to get the market behind the popular providers of lodging, air travel, car rental, cruise and vacation package reservations. This isn't just a one-week phenomenon. Priceline and Expedia shares have soared 174 percent and 171 percent since the end of 2011. Orbitz Worldwide has also more than doubled in that time, and it's up a whopping 223 percent since the start of 2013. The Ins and Outs of Inn Outings Orbitz Worldwide's report would have been better if it wasn't held back by an 11 percent decline in airline ticket sales. Priceline and Expedia are growing their airfare sales, but modestly, compared to their hotel reservations. This isn't a surprise. Airlines have done a good job of marketing directly to passengers. There are a lot of people on frequent flyer programs, so they often head directly to an air carrier's website when it's time to book a trip. Pricing is also pretty competitive between airlines. There may not be a lot of carriers offering the desired route, but they are quick to respond to what rivals are doing. Th

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.68 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Camtek (NASDAQ: CAMT), down 16.3 percent, and MakeMyTrip (NASDAQ: MMYT), off 11.4 percent.

• [By Eddie Staley]

  In trading on Tuesday, technology shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 1.68 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Camtek (NASDAQ: CAMT), down 15.54 percent, and MakeMyTrip (NASDAQ: MMYT), off 11.85 percent.