Best Growth Stocks To Buy For 2020: May 2014

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Top 5 Building Product Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Building Product Companies To Invest In Right Now: Jasper Mining Corp (JSP)

Jasper Mining Corporation (Jasper) is an exploration-stage company engaged in the exploration for and development of base and precious metals in Canada. Its properties consist of the Vowell Creek property, the Lydy property, the McFarlane property, the Cascade property, the Faith property, the Isintok property, the Alaric property, the Proximal property, the Erie Creek property, the Irony property and Crawford property. The Vowell Creek property consists of 12,750 hectares located approximately 35 kilometers south of Golden, British Columbia. The Cascade property is located approximately 55 kilometers north of the community of Kaslo, British Columbia and is comprised of approximately 1,545 hectares (3,819 acres), on the west side of the Lardeau River. The Irony property is located north of Revelstoke, British Columbia and southwest of Mica Dam, consisting of 2,375 hectares (5,869 acres). The Company's properties include lead, zinc, gold and silver. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jessica Summers]
Indias S&P BSE Sensex (SENSEX) extended this weeks drop to 3 percent, the most since five days ended March 24. Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (JSP) plunged 7.6 percent, leading a gauge of 10 metal companies to its lowest close in more than four years. ICICI Bank Ltd. fell to an 11-month low, pacing losses among its peers. The rupee slid 1.1 percent, capping its biggest weekly drop in almost two years.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-building-product-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy Right Now

Top Diversified Bank Companies To Buy Right Now: Techne Corporation(TECH)

TECHNE Corporation develops, manufactures, and sells biotechnology products, and hematology calibrators and controls worldwide. The company?s Biotechnology segment offers proteins, such as cytokines, and enzyme substrates and inhibitors; antibodies, including polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies; immunoassays comprising quantikine kits for the detection of human and animal proteins, and immunoassays that allow researchers to quantify a specific analyte in a biological fluids sample; clinical diagnostic immunoassay kits consisting of erythropoietin, transferrin receptor, and beta2-microglobulin immunoassays for use as in vitro diagnostic devices; flow cytometry products, such as fluorochrome labeled antibodies and kits; intracellular cell signaling products, including antibodies, phospho-specific antibodies, antibody arrays, active caspases, kinases, and phosphatases, and ELISA assays to measure the activity of apoptotic and signaling molecules; and natural and synthetic c hemical compounds for use as agonists, antagonists, and inhibitors of various biological functions by investigators. Its Hematology segment provides whole blood CBC controls controls and calibrators; linearity and reportable range controls for the assessment of the linearity of hematology analyzers for white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and reticulocytes; whole blood reticulocyte controls for manual and automated counting of reticulocytes; whole blood flow cytometry controls for the identification and quantification white blood cells; whole blood glucose/hemoglobin control to monitor instruments, which measure glucose and hemoglobin in blood; erythrocyte sedimentation rate control to monitor erythrocyte sedimentation rate tests; and multi-purpose platelet reference controls, such as Platelet-Trol II and Platelet-Trol Extended for use by automated and semi-automated analyzers, which monitor platelet levels. The company was founded in 1976 ! and is headquartered in M inneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
Biologics researcherTechne (NASDAQ: TECH ) will pay a regular quarterly dividend of $0.30 on May 24 to the holders of record at the close of business on May 10.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-diversified-bank-companies-to-buy-right-now.html

Friday, May 30, 2014

Market Wrap-Up for Sept. 5 (WAG, LTD, CPB, DE, more)

Out of the gate today, stocks rose mostly higher, as investors went into buy mode following the release of a number of economic indicators that beat analysts’ estimates. However, that bit of euphoria soon wore off and stocks came back to earth, especially as the yield on the 10 Year U.S Treasury Note started to close in on 3.00%. By the close, the major indices were just able to squeak out gains.

Stocks on the Rise

Among the stocks that closed in positive territory today were Alliant Technologies (ATK), Carlyle Group (CG), and Kaydon Corp. (KDN), after these companies announced various acquisitions. Walgreen Company (WAG) shares rallied as well, following its release of better-than-expected August sales.

Best Recreation Companies To Invest In 2015

Furthermore, Omnicom Group (OMC) and Humana Inc. (HUM) shares rose into positive territory following Wall Street analysts’ upgrades.

Stocks on the Decline

In contrast, shares of L Brands (LTD

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Best Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now

Best Information Technology Companies To Watch In Right Now: TruLan Resources Inc (TRLR)

Trulan Resources, Inc. (Trulan), incorporated on March 12, 1971, is a natural resource mineral exploration company. The Companys focus is to locate and acquire mineral concessions and properties that have experienced various degrees of previous exploratory work where anomalous values of gold, silver and Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) projects in North and South America.

The IGP Project totals 885 Hectares (2,186 Acres) of wide spread mineralization and ore bodies that contain high grades of Iron, Gold, Platinum and high value industrial metals. There are eight known deposits in close proximity which have been tested to the point where an Indicated Ore resource has been delineated. There are four ore bodies with an Indicated Reserve in excess of 247 Million Metric Tons. Its Eureka Placer Claim is located on Eureka Creek in Californias Sierra City Mining District. This district covers a area in Sierra County, extending through Furnier, Loganville, Church Meadows, Gold Valley, and the Sierra City-Buttes areas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Small cap mining stocks Brazil Gold Corp (OTCMKTS: BRZG) and Trulan Resources (OTCMKTS: TRLR) were either active on the charts last week (in the case of the former) or recently the subject of paid promotions (in the case of the latter). However, mining is not exactly an easy business for a small and usually undercapitalized small cap mining stock given the amount it can cost to get a mine up and running. On the other hand, they could always be sitting on the next mother lode just waiting to come out of the ground. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about these two small cap mining stocks:

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/best-information-technology-companies-to-watch-in-right-now.html

Top Insurance Companies To Buy For 2015

Top Insurance Companies To Buy For 2015: Cincinnati Financial Corporation(CINF)

Cincinnati Financial Corporation engages in the property casualty insurance business in the United States. Its Commercial Lines Property Casualty Insurance segment provides coverage for commercial casualty, commercial property, commercial auto, and workers? compensation. It also offers specialty packages, including coverages for property, liability, and business interruption for specific industry classes, such as artisan contractors, dentists, or street businesses. In addition, this segment provides contract and commercial surety bonds, fidelity bonds, and director and officer liability insurance, as well as machinery and equipment coverage. The company?s Personal Lines Property Casualty Insurance segment offers coverage for personal auto and homeowners, as well as other insurance products, such as dwelling fire, inland marine, personal umbrella liability, and watercraft coverages to individuals. Cincinnati Financial?s Excess and Surplus Lines Property Casualty Insurance s egment offers commercial casualty insurance that covers businesses for third-party liability from accidents occurring on their premises or arising out of their operations, including products and completed operations; and commercial property insurance, which insures loss or damage to buildings, inventory, equipment, and business income from causes of loss, such as fire, wind, hail, water, theft, and vandalism. The company?s Life Insurance segment provides term insurance; universal life insurance; whole life insurance; and worksite products, which include term, whole life, universal life, and disability insurance offered to employees through their employer. This segment also markets disability income insurance, deferred annuities, and immediate annuities. Its Investment segment invests in fixed-maturity investments, equity investments, and short-term investments. Cincinnati also offers commercial leasing and financing services. The company was f! ounded in 1950 and is headquart e red in Fairfield, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dividends4Life]
According to a Gabelli Funds report, managed distribution policies offer several advantages, including:1. Lower difference between the funds market price and its NAV per share.2. Provides support during periods when the stock market is in a decline.3. Provides a measurable performance target for the investment adviser.Below are several high-yield funds from CEFA that have a managed distribution policy (yields as of December 16):Aberdeen Australia Eqty (IAF)- Distribution Yield: 10.4%- Income Yield: 346%Bexil Advisers LLC (DNI)- Distribution Yield: 11.1%- Income Yield: 3.56%BlackRock En Capital&Inc (CII)- Distribution Yield: 8.78%- Income Yield: 2.34%Cornerstone Strat Value (CLM)- Distribution Yield: 18.77%- Income Yield: 1.83%Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)- Distribution Yield: 19.10%- Income Yield: 0.85%Delaware Inv Div & Inc (DDF)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 5.26%Gabelli Equity Trust (GAB)- Distribution Yield: 7.58%- Income Yield: 1.54%Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)- Distribution Yield: 9.45%- Income Yield: 2.84%MFS Special Value Trust (MFV)- Distribution Yield: 9.60%- Income Yield: 5.73%Nuveen Tx-Adv TR Strat (JTA)- Distribution Yield: 6.70%- Income Yield: 3.12%TCW Strategic Income (TSI)- Distribution Yield: 10.54%- Income Yield: 7.88%Zweig Total Return (ZTR)- Distribution Yield: 7.27%- Income Yield: 1.95%As noted in the Gabelli report, a managed distribution policy may create confusion regarding the true current yield since the reported yield includes the return of capital portion. You can see the disparity above between the income yield and the distribution (reported) yield.If you are looking for a sustainable and growing dividend, you may want to consider some blue-chip dividend stocks such as these with a Free Cash Flow Payout less than 50%, 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases and a 2%+ yield:3M Co. (MMM) is a diversified global company ! provides ! enhanced product functionality in electronics, health care, industrial, consumer
[By Dan Caplinger]
Investors have always been interested in stocks that pay dividends, but lately, low interest rates on bonds and other fixed-income investments have made solid dividend payers even more valuable. Among the most promising dividend stocks in the market is Cincinnati Financial (NASDAQ: CINF ) , and one big reason is that it is one of the few exclusive companies to make the list of Dividend Aristocrats. In order to become a member of this elite group, a company must have raised its dividend payouts to shareholders every single year for at least a quarter-century. Only a few dozen stocks manage to make the cut, and those that do tend to stay there for a long time.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-insurance-companies-to-buy-for-2015.html

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Top Valued Stocks For 2015

Top Valued Stocks For 2015: Tupperware Corporation(TUP)

Tupperware Brands Corporation operates as a direct seller of various products across a range of brands and categories through an independent sales force. The company engages in the manufacture and sale of kitchen and home products, and beauty and personal care products. It offers preparation, storage, and serving solutions for the kitchen and home, as well as kitchen cookware and tools, children?s educational toys, microwave products, and gifts under the Tupperware brand name primarily in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company provides beauty and personal care products, which include skin care products, cosmetics, bath and body care, toiletries, fragrances, nutritional products, apparel, and related products principally in Mexico, South Africa, the Philippines, Australia, and Uruguay. It offers beauty and personal care products under the Armand Dupree, Avroy Shlain, BeautiControl, Fuller, NaturCare, Nutrimetics, Nuvo, and Swissgar de brand names. The company sells its Tupperware products directly to distributors, directors, managers, and dealers; and beauty products primarily through consultants and directors. As of December 26, 2009, the Tupperware distribution system had approximately 1,800 distributors, 61,300 managers, and 1.3 million dealers; and the sales force representing the Beauty businesses approximately 1.1 million. The company was formerly known as Tupperware Corporation and changed its name to Tupperware Brands Corporation in December 2005. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of Herbalife have gained 0.9% to $79.51 this morning in pre-open trading. Its shares have gained 139% this year, a nice gain, but lagging Nu Skin Enterprises 271% rise. Avon Products(AVP), another multi-level marketer, has gained 21% so far this year, while Tupperware Brands(TUP) has risen 49! %.
[By Jonathan Berr]
Multilevel marketing (MLM) groups such as Herbalife operate through independent sales representatives, who earn money both through the sales of product and by recruiting other people to join their team. This business model — which is used by scores of companies, includingPampered Chef, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), Tupperware (TUP) and Mary Kay Cosmetics — is legal provided that actual products are sold.
[By Brian Pacampara]
Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, household products company Tupperware Brands (NYSE: TUP ) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-valued-stocks-for-2015.html

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

It’s Payday for These 3 Dividend Stocks

Looking at the universe of stocks we cover at Dividend Channel, on May 28 Allstate (ALL), SunTrust Banks (STI) and CBOE Holdings (CBOE) will all trade ex-dividend for their respective upcoming dividends. Allstate will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.28 on July 1, SunTrust will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.20 on June 16 and CBOE Holdings will pay its quarterly dividend of $0.18 on June 20.

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As a percentage of ALL’s recent stock price of $58.43, this dividend works out to approximately 0.48%, so look for ALL stock to trade 0.48% lower — all else being equal — when ALL shares open for trading on Wednesday. Similarly, investors should look for STI to open 0.52% lower in price and for CBOE to open 0.36% lower, all else being equal.

Below are dividend history charts for ALL, STI, and CBOE, showing historical dividends prior to the most recent ones declared.

Allstate Corp. :

11401199245 It's Payday for These 3 Dividend Stocks

SunTrust Banks, Inc. :

11401199246 It's Payday for These 3 Dividend Stocks

CBOE Holdings Incorporated :

11401199247 It's Payday for These 3 Dividend Stocks

In general, dividends are not always predictable, following the ups and downs of company profits over time. Therefore, a good first due diligence step in forming an expectation of annual yield going forward is looking at the history above for a sense of stability over time. This can help in judging whether the most recent dividends from these companies are likely to continue. If they do continue, the current estimated yields on annualized basis would be 1.92% for Allstate Corp., 2.07% for SunTrust Banks, Inc., and 1.43% for CBOE Holdings Incorporated.

In Tuesday trading, Allstate Corp. shares are currently up about 0.1%, SunTrust Banks, Inc. shares are up about 0.7%, and CBOE Holdings Incorporated shares are up about 0.8% on the day.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Hot Performing Companies To Watch In Right Now

Hot Performing Companies To Watch In Right Now: Medina International Holdings Inc (MIHI)

Medina International Holdings, Inc. (Medina), incorporated on June 23, 1998, manufactures products and services to assist emergency and defense organizations and personnel. The Company, through its two wholly owned subsidiaries, Harbor Guard Boats, Inc. (HGB) and Medina Marine, Inc. manufactures and sells recreational and commercial boats. The products are manufactured by HGB, which designs, manufactures, and markets hand-laid fiberglass and aluminum commercial boats ranging from 15 feet to 37 feet, which are utilized by fire, search and rescue, emergency, patrol, military and defense organizations. It manufactures commercial and recreational watercrafts.

As of April 30, 2012, HGB had nine models of commercial and recreational watercrafts. The Company's products consist of commercial boats and recreational boats. As of April 30, 2012, Medina had seven commercial watercraft models, ranging from 15 feet to 37 feet in length. Its other watercraft includes 15 f eet interceptor, which is used for rescue and fiber glass; 20-feet interceptor, which is used for fire rescue, rescue and fiber glass; 21 feet firecat, which is used for fire rescue, rescue and fiber glass; 24 feet firecat/denfender, which is used for fire rescue, rescue, aluminum and fiber glass; 26 feet firecat/denfender, which is used for fire rescue, rescue, aluminum and fiber glass; 30 feet firecat/denfender, which is used for fire rescue, rescue, aluminum and fiber glass, and 37 feet firecat/denfender, which is used for fire rescue, rescue, aluminum and fiber glass. As of April 30, 2012, the Company had two recreational watercraft models. Its watercraft products are made out of fiberglass and aluminum materials.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Peter Graham]
Last Friday, small cap Digital Brand Media & Market! ing Group Inc (OTCMKTS: DBMM) surged 22.22% while Blue Water Global Group Inc (OTCBB: BLUU) sank 18.42% and Medina International Holdings, Inc (OTCMKTS: MIHI) sank 50%. However, one of these small caps (Blue Water Global Group) appears to be reversing course in early morning trading today. So with it and the rest of these small cap stocks either sink or swim in trading this week? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy:

source from Top Stocks Blog:http://www.topstocksblog.com/hot-performing-companies-to-watch-in-right-now-2.html

Best Gold Companies To Buy For 2015

Best Gold Companies To Buy For 2015: Goldcorp Incorporated(GG)

Goldcorp Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of precious metal properties in Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Central and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The company was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
One way Yamana has kept its competitive cost advantage is through extensive sales of base-metal byproducts like copper and zinc, as both it and fellow low-cost rival Goldcorp (NYSE: GG ) benefit from utilizing those secondary metals to offset the cost of their gold production. Peers Gold Fields (NYSE: GFI ) and AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU ) , on the other hand, face much higher costs in part because of their exposure to South Africa and its unstable labor market.

source from USA Best Stocks:http://www.usabeststocks.com/best-gold-companies-to-buy-for-2015.html

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015

Popular Posts: 6 Biotechnology Stocks to Sell Now3 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now5 Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Now Recent Posts: 5 Stocks With Crummy Analyst Earnings Revisions ��WG VCRA FIO TWGP CVGI 12 Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Now 4 Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Now View All Posts

This week, these five stocks have the worst ratings in Analyst Earnings Revisions, one of the eight Fundamental Categories on Portfolio Grader.

Willbros Group, Inc. () provides engineering and construction services to the oil, gas, refinery, petrochemical and power industries with a focus on infrastructure such as oil and gas pipeline systems, electric transmission and distribution services and refinery downstream markets. WG also gets F’s in Earnings Growth, Earnings Momentum and Sales Growth. .

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA)

NVIDIA Corporation provides visual computing, high performance computing, and mobile computing solutions that generate interactive graphics on various devices ranging from tablets and smart phones to notebooks and workstations. It operates in three segments: Graphic Processing Unit (GPU), Professional Solutions Business (PSB), and Consumer Products Business (CPB). The GPU segment offers GeForce discrete and chipset products, which support desktop and notebook personal computers plus memory products. The PSB segment provides its Quadro professional workstation products and other professional graphics products, including its NVIDIA Tesla high-performance computing products used in the manufacturing, entertainment, medical, science, and aerospace industries. The CPB segment offers Tegra mobile products, which support tablets, smartphones, personal media players, Internet television, automotive navigation, and other similar devices. This segment also licenses video game consol es and other digital consumer electronics devices. The company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers, original design manufacturers, add-in-card manufacturers, consumer electronics companies, and system builders worldwide that utilize its processors as a core component of their entertainment, business, and professional solutions. NVIDIA Corporation was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Evan Niu, CFA]
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA ) has brought its advanced Kepler GPU architecture to a mobile chip in the Tegra K1. It's also looking forward to the release of its Denver CPUs, available in 32- and 64-bit flavors later this year.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Intermolecular Inc (IMI)

Intermolecular, Inc. (Intermolecular), incorporated on June 16, 2004, is engaged in research and development and time-to-market for the semiconductor and clean-energy industries. The Company, through paid collaborative development programs (CDPs) with its customers, develops technology and intellectual property (IP) for its customers focused on advanced materials, processes, integration and device architectures. The Company provides its customers with technology through various fee arrangements and grants them rights to associated IP, primarily through royalty-bearing licenses. Through paid CDPs and its own development, the Company has established a portfolio of greater than 1,000 patents and patent applications. Its approach is broadly applicable to high-volume integrated device markets, which include the markets for semiconductors, flat glass coatings and glass-based devices, solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), flat-panel displays, advanced batteries and other energy efficiency applications.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company targets large, high-volume semiconductor and high-growth emerging clean energy markets, including DRAM, non-volatile memory (including flash memory and embedded memory), complex logic, flat glass coatings and glass-based devices, solar cells, LEDs and other energy efficiency applications. The Company�� customers include ATMI, Inc. (ATMI), Elpida Memory, Inc. (Elpida), First Solar. Inc. (First), GLOBALFOUNDRIES Singapore Pte. Ltd (GLOBALFOUNDRIES), Guardian Industries Corp. (Guardian), SanDisk Corporation (SanDisk), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba). For the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company has received the majority of its revenue from customers in DRAM, flash memory, complex logic and energy-efficient applications in flat glass. The elements in HPC platform include Tempus HPC processing, automated characterization, and informatics and analysis software. Tempus HPC processing are used to process ! different experiments consisting of combinations of materials, processing parameters, sequencing and device structures. Automated characterization systems are used to characterize the substrates processed by its Tempus HPC processing tools. Informatics and analysis software are used to automate experiment generation, characterization, data analysis and reporting.

The Company�� HPC platform consists of its Tempus HPC processing tools, automated characterization and informatics and analysis software. The Company�� platform is purpose-built for Research and Development (R and D) using combinatorial process systems. Combinatorial processing is a methodology for discovery and development that employs parallel and other high-throughput experimentation, which allows R and D experimentation to be performed at speeds up to 100 times faster than traditional methods. The Company�� processing tools allows performing up to 192 experiments on a single substrate.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sofia Horta e Costa]
ARM Holdings Plc (ARM) lost 2.6 percent, leading European technology companies lower before it publishes half-year results next week. IMI Plc (IMI) gained 2 percent as Citigroup Inc. listed the engineering company among its most preferred stocks.

Hot Chemical Companies To Own In Right Now: Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc (FCS)

Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. (Fairchild) focuses on developing, manufacturing and selling power analog, power discrete and certain non-power semiconductor solutions to a range of end market customers. The Company is a supplier of power analog products, power discrete products and energy-efficient solutions, according to iSuppli. Its products are used in a range of electronic applications, including sophisticated computers and Internet hardware; communications, including wireless phones; networking and storage equipment; industrial power supply and instrumentation equipment; consumer electronics, such as digital cameras, displays, audio/video devices and household appliances, and automotive applications.

The Company�� product groups are organized by the end markets, which include Mobile, Computing, Consumer and Communication (MCCC), Power Conversion, Industrial and Automotive (PCIA) and Standard Discrete and Standard Linear (SDT). It invested in the wafer fabrication power semiconductor technology, including low and mid voltage PowerTrench, advanced insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), as well as advanced high power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) fabrication technologies.

Mobile, Computing, Consumer and Communication (MCCC)

The Company designs, manufactures and markets high-performance analog and mixed signal integrated circuits, low voltage power MOSFETs for mobile, consumer, computing, and communication applications. It has a portfolio of PowerTrench technology products. Its analog and mixed signal products are focused on the mobile end- markets.

Analog products monitor, interpret, and control continuously variable functions, such as light, color, sound, and energy. It forms the interface with the digital world. It provides a range of analog products that perform such tasks as voltage regulation, audio amplification, power and signal switching and system management. Analog voltage regulation circ! uits are used to provide constant voltages, as well as step up or step down voltage levels on a circuit board. These products enable improvements in power efficiency, lighting management, and improve charge times in ultraportable products. These products are used in a variety of mobile, computing, communications and consumer applications.

In addition to the power analog and interface products, it also offers signal path products. These include analog and digital switches, universal serial bus (USB) switches, video filters and high performance audio amplifiers. The analog switch functions are typically found in cellular handsets and other ultra portable applications. The video products provide a single chip solution to video filtering and amplification. Video filtering applications include set top boxes and digital television. Its solutions include surface mount devices, tiny packages, chip scale packages, and leadless carriers.

The Company also design, manufacture and market power semiconductor solutions for computing, communications, mobile, consumer and industrial applications. Power semiconductor solutions include, power discrete MOSFETs, analog integrated circuits, and fully integrated multi-chip and monolithic power solutions. Its power MOSFETs are primarily used in power delivery and power control applications. Power delivery and control applications are ubiquitous across data consumption, processing and communication applications. It produces advanced low power MOSFETs under its PowerTrench brands. The advanced power MOSFETs applications are used in smartphones, tablets, notebook personal computer, high performance gaming, home entertainment systems, servers, data communication, and routers.

The Company competes with Analog Devices, Inc., Linear Technology Corporation, Maxim Integrated Product, Inc., Micrel Inc, ON Semiconductor Corporation, ST Microelectronics N.V., Intersil Corporation, International Rectifier Corporation, Infineon Technologies AG and T! exas Inst! ruments Incorporated.

Power Conversion, Industrial and Automotive (PCIA)

Fairchild design, manufacture and market power discrete semiconductors, analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (ICs) for broad power conversion/power management, industrial, and automotive applications. Its products are building blocks that help convert a semi-regulated energy source (alternating current (AC)or direct current (DC)) to a regulated output for electronic systems (AC-DC, DC-AC, and DC-DC conversion). Its discrete devices are individual diodes or transistors that perform power switching, power conditioning and signal amplification functions in electronic circuits. The Company�� analog and mixed signal integrated circuits (IC) are used to control discrete semiconductors in applications, such as power switching, conditioning, signal amplification, power distribution and power consumption. It manufacture discrete products using vertical DMOS MOSFETs, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT), Bipolar, and ultrafast rectifier technologies. It manufacture analog and mixed signal ICs using a range of bipolar (Bi), complementary metal oxide (CMOS), BiCMOS, and bipolar/CMOS/DMOS (BCDMOS) processes up to 1,200 volts and down to 0.35um (microns) minimum geometry.

Power MOSFETs are used in applications to switch, shape or transfer energy. These products are used in a range of high-growth applications, including solar inverters, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), data centers and communications, motors, lighting, automotive, computing, displays and industrial supplies. It produce advanced power MOSFETs under its SupreMOS, SuperFET, PowerTrench, UniFET and QFET brands. IGBTs are high-voltage power discrete devices. They are used in switching applications for solar inverters, uninterruped power supply, data centers and communications, motors, industrial, power supplies, displays, television and automotive ignition systems. These applications require lower switching frequencies, highe! r power, ! and/or higher voltages than a power MOSFET can provide. It is a supplier of IGBTs. Rectifier products work with IGBTs and MOSFETs in many applications to provide power conversion and conditioning. Its product is the STEALTH rectifier, providing industry performance and efficiencies in data communications, industrial power supply, displays, television, and motor applications.

Leveraging its power MOSFET and IGBT technologies, it also design and manufacture modules for the industrial, automotive, and home appliance end markets. It design and develop a line of smart power modules (SPM) products targeted to various end applications in consumer white goods and industrial applications, which include room air conditioners, industrial power supplies, solar inverters, pumps, and industrial motors. These are multi-chip modules containing up to 28 components in a single package that includes diodes, power discrete IGBTs or MOSFETs, high voltage power management driver ICs and current and temperature sensors. Similar modules, called APM, are used in automotive applications.

The Company design and manufacture power management semiconductors for line-powered and off-line powered systems that integrate its Power MOSFETs. It sell and market off-line and isolated DC-DC ICs, MOSFET and IGBT gate driver ICs, and power factor correction ICs to the consumer, computing, display, television, lighting and industrial segments.

The Company competes with Infineon Technologies AG, ST MicroelectronicsN.V., International Rectifier Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Power Integrations, Inc., ON Semiconductor Corporation, NXP Semiconductors N.V. and Vishay Intertechnology, Inc.

Standard Linear and Standard Discrete (SDT)

Standard Diodes and Transistors products cover a range of semiconductor products, including MOSFET, junction field effect transistors (JFETs), high power bipolar, discrete small signal transistors, TVS,! Zeners, ! rectifiers, bridge rectifiers, Schottky devices and diodes. The Company design, manufacture and market analog integrated circuits for computing, consumer, communications, ultra-portable and industrial applications. These products are manufactured using bipolar, CMOS and BiCMOS technologies. Standard Linear solutions range from bipolar regulators, shunt regulators, low drop out regulators, standard op-amp/comparators, low voltage op-amps, and others. Analog voltage regulator circuits are used to provide constant voltages, as well as to step up or step down voltage levels on a circuit board. Op-amps/comparators are designed specifically to operate from a single power supply over a range of voltages. It also offer low-voltage op-amps that provide a combination of low power, rail-to-rail performance, low voltage operation, and tiny package options which are well suited for use in personal electronics equipment. Its solutions include surface mount devices, tiny packages and leadless carriers.

The Company competes with International Rectifier Corporation, Diodes Incorporated, NXP Semiconductors N.V., ST Microelectronics N.V., ON Semiconductor Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Vishay Intertechnology, Inc., Vishay Intertechnology, Inc, Osram Opto Semiconductors, OPTEK Technology, OMRON Corporation, Avago Technologies Ltd. and Kodenshi Corp.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Alex Planes]
In an epochal paper published in Electronics magazine on April 19, 1965 and simply titled "Cramming more components onto integrated circuits," Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS ) director of research Gordon E. Moore wrote (emphasis mine):
[By Alex Planes]
Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce were part of the founding team behind Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS ) in 1957. In 11 years, the two men would forge legendary hardware-engineering careers. They developed the first practical integrated circuits, created the most widely recognized "law" of computing power, and built the chips that helped man land on the moon. But after 11 years, the two chip makers left the plodding Fairchild behind for even greater ambitions. On July 18, 1968, they founded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC ) , a company that would quickly and vastly eclipse their former employer.
[By Alex Planes]
British radar engineer Geoffrey Dummer first made public the concept of integrated circuits on May 7, 1952. This was still years before practical transistor-based electronics would hit the consumer market, but the notion caught on with two very talented engineers: Robert Noyce, founder of Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS ) , and Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments. Working independently, the two men would help build the entire semiconductor industry from the ground up, using Dummer's concepts as a starting point.
[By Brian Pacampara]
What: Shares of power chip specialist Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS ) sank 10% today after its quarterly results and outlook missed Wall Street expectations.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AUS)

AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG (AT&S) is an Austria-based company that is principally engaged in the production of printed circuit boards. The Company is divided into three core business units: Mobile Devices; Automotive, and Industrial. The Company�� product assortment ranges from single- and double-sided printed circuit boards to multilayer printed circuit boards. They are used as electromechanical linking elements, mainly in the telecommunication sector, automobile industry and medical technology applications, as well as defense and aerospace. AT&S operates production sites in Austria, India, China and Korea. It also maintains international sales offices, based in Austria, Ireland, Germany, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary and Belgium. As of March 31, 2011, the Company operated through its subsidiaries in India, Germany, Austria, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Triska Hamid]
Professors at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) are also looking at dental care with braces imbedded with a chip that monitor the movement of the fixtures and will communicate with the dentist's office if any of them are separated from the teeth.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Micron Technology Inc.(MU)

Micron Technology, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of semiconductor devices worldwide. Its products include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) products that provide data storage and retrieval, which include DDR2 and DDR3; and other specialty DRAM memory products, including DDR, SDRAM, DDR and DDR2 mobile low power DRAM, pseudo-static RAM, and reduced latency DRAM. The company also offers NAND flash memory products, which are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor devices that retain content when power is turned off. In addition, it provides NOR flash memory products that are electrically re-writeable and non-volatile semiconductor memory devices; phase change memory products; and image sensor products. Micron Technology?s products are used in a range of electronic applications, including personal computers, workstations, network servers, mobile phones, flash memory cards, USB storage devices, digital still c ameras, MP3/4 players, and in automotive applications. It sells its products to original equipment manufacturers and retailers through internal sales force, independent sales representatives, and distributors, as well as through a Web-based customer direct sales channel. The company was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Piyush Arora]
This, of course, presents a bullish outlook for Apple. But, iPhone's hardware and software suppliers, namely�Micron (NASDAQ: MU ) , Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL ) , and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA ) , also stand to benefit here. Do these stocks deserve a place in your portfolio?
[By Genesis Housing]
This is akin to writing a bear note on Apple (AAPL) but ignoring the iPhone, or Micron (MU) but ignoring Elpida (ELPDF.PK).
Sell side research based on incomplete analysis that calls into question a company's cash flows and cash position does a disservice to investors who might be turned off looking into the investment case of Nokia. To present such obviously incomplete analysis and make conclusions that will influence investors is an analogy for many of the misgivings people have about the way the sell side operates. It also gives credence to other more innovative ways to collect and extract insight on industries and businesses such as Seeking Alpha.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: 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 Company�� 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 Company�� 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 package, 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 Company�� 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 Company�� substrate-based packages include Plastic BGA, Cavity Down BGA, Stacked-Die BGA, Flip-Chip BGA and land grid array (LGA).

The Company�� 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 printed circuit board. Interconnect 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 mechanical test tool design. The Company offers drop shipment services for shipment of semiconductors directly to end users designated by its customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By David Dittman]
Crown Resorts is a buy all the way up to USD16.50 on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) using the symbol CWN and on the US over-the-counter (OTC) market using the symbol CWLDF.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Camtek Ltd (CAMT)

Camtek Ltd. (Camtek), incorporated in 1987, designs, develops, manufactures and markets automated solutions dedicated for enhancing production processes and yield for the semiconductor manufacturing and packaging and the printed circuit board (PCB) and integrated circuit (IC) substrate industries. Camtek also designs, develops, manufactures and markets automated optical inspection (AOI), systems and related products. The Company�� AOI systems are used to enhance both production processes and yields for manufacturers in the semiconductor manufacturing and packaging industry and PCB and IC Substrate industry. Through the acquisition of Printar's assets, it also engaged in developing, manufacturing, sale and marketing of direct digital material deposition systems and inks for the PCB industry, with two major fields of activity: Solder Mask and Legend. In addition, through the acquisition of Sela, it is also engaged in the development, manufacturing and marketing of automated scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) sample preparation equipment, primarily for the semiconductor industry.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company had sold more than 2,500 AOI systems in 34 countries worldwide. The Company's PCB customer base includes the majority of the 100 PCB manufacturers worldwide. As of December 31, 2011, it had sold over 300 Falcon systems to more than 25 semiconductor manufacturers, among them outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), integrated device manufacturers (IDM) and wafer level packaging subcontractors, including eight out of the top 10 semiconductors companies.

Camtek�� AOI systems consist of an electro-optical assembly unit, either movable or fixed, which consists of a video camera, precision optics and illumination sources. The electro-optical unit captures the image of the inspected product; a precise, either movable or fixed table, that holds the inspected product, and an electronic hardware unit, which operates the! entire system and includes embedded components that process and analyze the captured image by using its algorithms. Its systems can also compile and communicate statistical reports of inspection findings through the customer�� factory information system. The Company offers a range of systems for automated optical inspection of semiconductor wafers, IC substrates and PCBs. These systems are used to enhance production yields and assist in controlling manufacturing processes at wafer fabrication, test and assembly houses, and PCB plants worldwide.

The Company�� Falcon systems are designed for the back end market of the semiconductor industry. The Falcon�� advanced algorithms and inspection capabilities enable its dedicated models to detect defects in the die, which, if left undetected, may cause failure. The Condor is designed to meet the current and future inspection needs of the semiconductor industry. The Condor, through algorithms and advanced hardware configuration, is designed to enhance two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) detection abilities and increased throughput. The Condor family includes models for: 3D and 2D metrology and inspection of bumped-wafer prepared for packaging in the flip-chip technology; 2D metrology and inspection of finished wafers at the end of their manufacturing process and in test houses; Post-dicing inspection of frame-mounted wafers at assembly and packaging facilities, where it adds the value of detecting dicing-related damage, and inspection and metrology of micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and other special applications.

Condor 5LED is an AOI system designed to provide solutions to a range of requirements that are to light emitting diode (LED) semiconductor manufacturers. The LED market�� special inspection requirements are characterized by 3-6 inch wafers, each of which may contain between 100 to over 200 thousand LED devices per wafer. Typically, the wafer is made of a translucent compound semiconductor, such as g! allium ar! senide, gallium phosphide and/or indium phosphide. The Gannet system is designed for the front end market of the semiconductor industry.

The Company�� AOI products for this industry consist of five product lines: the Phoenix, Dragon and Orion for the inspection of inner and outer layers of PCB panels and ultra-fine-line IC substrate; large area masks (LAM) dedicated for inspection of artwork; and the Pegasus for final inspection (AFI) of IC substrates and high density interconnect (HDI) panels. The Phoenix product family, introduced in November 2011, is designed to support a range of the demanding PCB and IC substrate applications, while keeping in pace with the dynamic technology changes in the industry. The Phoenix product family is enhanced with Spark - Camtek's and detection engine providing high detection capabilities, while minimizing false calls.

Dragon systems are high-throughput, automation-ready systems for inspection of all PCB types in a mass production environment. Dragon models are optimized for specific PCB technology ranges - from mainstream circuits of typically 100 (microns) conductor line width, up to high density substrates having 12 (microns) wide conductive lines. All Dragon models are designed to interface with automated material handling mechanisms provided by the Company or other automation suppliers. Orion systems are stand-alone AOI systems for high volume inspection of all PCB types designed to operate in inspectify mode of operation. Inspectify is a mode of operation enabling the operator to perform verification immediately after inspection on the same system, thus saving time and eliminating handling-related defects.

LAM is specially designed for main-stream LAM inspection. It offers unparalleled detection ability on LAM with down to 25 (microns) line/space width technology. The LAM incorporates advanced technology innovations to ensure the level of detection that these masks require at this critical production stage. Camtek offers! various ! stand-alone verification systems that enable verification of panels after inspection. The Pegasus line includes systems for automated inspection of finished IC substrates that are subsequently used in packaging of ball grid array (BGA) and Chip Scale Package (CSP) devices. The Pegasus inspects both sides of the substrate, detecting process and mechanical defects, in particular in the gold-plated areas, where the substrate will interconnect with the silicon die or the PCB, and in the solder-mask areas. Pegasus models handle substrates in strip format in magazines.

GreenJet is a SM digital printing system aimed to replace the conventional SM application lines for prototypes and high mix low volume production. The GreenJet system offers manufacturers flexible and digital SM printing technology solution. The LGP system incorporates PCB digital legend printing technologies with specially developed heat curable ink, resulting in output and system performance. Camtek has developed the inks for both LGP and GreenJet, which involves different chemicals mixed together in order to reach the required ink characterization.

The Company competes with Rudolph Technologies Inc., KLA-Tencor Corporation, Topcon Corporation, Toray Industries, Inc., Hitachi Ltd., Nidec Tosok Corporation., FEI Company, SII Nanotechnology Japan, Carl Zeiss, Inc., Orbotech Ltd., Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Company, Lloyd-Doyle Limited, Gigavis Co. Ltd., ATI Electronics Pty Ltd., Shirai Electronics Industrial Co. Ltd., First EIE SA and MicroCraft K.K.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Paul Ausick]
Shares of tech industry testing and inspection systems maker Camtek Ltd. (NASDAQ: CAMT) closed at $1.89 on November 7th, the day the company announced third-quarter earnings. It closed at $2.65 last Friday and skyrocketed to a high of $6.43 on Tuesday before dropping back to around $4.00 in Wednesday trading.
[By Paul Ausick]
Stocks on the Move: Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) is up 35.7% at $5.13. Camtek Inc. (NASDAQ: CAMT) is up 71.7% at $4.55 after saying that a 3D printer is coming next year from the company. Sungy Mobile Ltd. (NASDAQ: GOMO) is up 28.8% at $17.19 after last Friday�� IPO. InterCloud Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ICLD) is down 28.2% at $9.20.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Sunedison Inc (SUNE)

SunEdison Inc, formerly MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc., incorporated on October 1, 1984, is engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of silicon wafers. The Company is a developer and seller of photovoltaic energy solutions. Through Solar Materials and Solar Energy (SunEdison), it is a developer of solar energy projects. The Company operates in two segments: semiconductor materials and solar energy. The Company�� Solar Energy segment includes the operations of its old Solar Materials segment, as well as its SunEdison business. In the Semiconductor Materials, the Company offers wafers with a variety of features. The Company�� wafers vary in size, surface features, composition, purity levels, crystal properties and electrical properties.

Semiconductor Materials

The Company�� monocrystalline wafers for use in semiconductor applications range in size from 100 millimeter to 300 millimeter and are round in shape for semiconductor customers because of the nature of their processing equipment. Its wafers are used as the starting material for the manufacture of various types of semiconductor devices, including microprocessor, memory, logic and power devices. In turn, these semiconductor devices are used in computers, cellular phones and other mobile electronic devices, automobiles and other consumer and industrial products. Its monocrystalline wafers for semiconductor applications include four general categories of wafers: prime, epitaxial, test/monitor and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers.

The Company�� prime wafer is a polished, pure wafer with an ultraflat and ultraclean surface. The Company�� epitaxial (epi), wafers consist of a thin silicon layer grown on the polished surface of the wafer. Typically, the epitaxial layer has different electrical properties from the underlying wafer. This provides customers with isolation between circuit elements than a polished wafer. Its AEGIS product is designed for certain specialized applications requiring high resis! tivity epitaxial wafers and its MDZ product feature. The AEGIS wafer includes a thin epitaxial layer grown on a standard starting wafer. The AEGIS wafer�� thin epitaxial layer eliminates harmful defects on the surface of the wafer, thereby allowing device manufacturers to increase yields. The Company supplies test/monitor wafers to its customers for use in testing semiconductor fabrication lines and processes. An SOI wafer is a different starting material for the chip making process.

Solar Energy

The Company�� Solar Energy segment provides solar energy services that integrate the design, installation, financing, monitoring, operations and maintenance portions of the downstream solar market to provide a solar energy service to its customers. As of December 31, 2012, SunEdison interconnected over 675 solar power systems representing 989 megawatt of solar energy generating capacity. As of December 31, 2012, SunEdison had 73 megawatt of projects under construction and 2.6 gigawatts in pipeline. In support of its downstream solar business, its Solar Energy segment manufactures polysilicon, silicon wafers and solar modules. Additionally, its Solar Energy segment will sell solar modules to third parties in the event the opportunity aligns with itsinternal needs. It provides its downstream customers with a way to purchase renewable energy by delivering solar power under long-term power purchase arrangements with customers or feed-in tariff arrangements with government entities and utilities. Its SunEdison business is dependent upon government subsidies, including United States federal incentive tax credits, state-sponsored energy credits and foreign feed-in tariffs. The Company�� solar wafers are used as the starting material for crystalline solar cells.

The Company competes with Shin-Etsu Handotai, SUMCO, Siltronic and LG Siltron, SunPower Corporation, First Solar, Inc., Enerparc, Sharp Corporation (Recurrent Energy), Phoenix Solar, BELECTRIC, JUWI Solar Gmbh, and S! olar City! .

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lisa Levin]
SunEdison (NYSE: SUNE) shares surged 0.50% to reach a new 52-week high of $13.99. SunEdison's trailing-twelve-month revenue is $2.06 billion.

Posted-In: 52-Week HighsNews Intraday Update Markets Movers
[By James Brumley]
What’s going to spark such a run-up from SOL stock at some point in 2014? Aaron Levitt offered details in his commentary on ReneSola, but the short version is that the panel maker has developed a strong name for itself as a supplier for small, independent power producers that are more cost-conscious than bigger players.
Sunedison (SUNE)
While Sunedison (SUNE) is a name that occasionally surfaces during discussions of the market’s top solar stocks, it’s not always part of the debate.
[By Aaron Levitt]
Utility NextEra Energy (NEE) is the nation�� largest solar and wind operator and just the latest firm to announce its intention to create a YieldCo. Moody�� estimates that about 30 utilities across the globe have the ability to create a YieldCo today based on current power plant holdings. Aside from the utility space, the various solar panel producers that also own/build grid-scale operations have also expressed their intentions about starting YieldCos. These include SunPower (SPWR) and SunEdison (SUNE).
[By Ben Levisohn]
Not investors in Restoration Hardware (RH). Its shares have dropped 2% in after-hours trading after it reported a profit of 49 cents a share, above forecasts for 43 cents, but offered mixed guidance. Oxford Industries (OXM) is off 7.3% at $60 after it announced a profit of $1.01, ahead of 98 cents consensus forecasts, but lowered its 2013 guidance. Shares of SunEdison (SUNE) have dropped 5.4% to $7.90 after it announced a secondary offering.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Advanced Photonix Inc (API)

Advanced Photonix, Inc. (API), incorporated in June 22, 1988, is engaged in the development and manufacture of optoelectronic devices and value-added sub-systems and systems. The Company serves a variety of global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in a variety of industries. API supports its customers from the initial concept and design phase of the product, through testing to full-scale production. API has two manufacturing facilities located in Camarillo, California and Ann Arbor, Michigan. API is a supplier of optoelectronic semiconductors packaged into high-speed optical receivers, custom optoelectronic subsystems and Terahertz instrumentation, serving a variety of global OEM markets. API supports the customer from the initial concept and design of the semiconductor, hybridization of support electronics, packaging and signal conditioning or processing from prototype through full-scale production and validation testing. The target markets served by it are industrial sensing/NDT, military/aerospace, telecom, medical and homeland security. On March 1, 2013, it acquired certain assets of Silonex, Inc.

The Company�� high-speed optical receivers include avalanche photodiode (APD) technology and positive-intrinsic-negative (PIN) photodiode technology based upon III-V materials, including InP, InAlAs, and GaAs. Its optoelectronic subsystems are based on its silicon large area avalanche photodiode (LAAPD), PIN photodiode, FILTRODE detectors and light emitting diode (LED) assemblies. API�� Terahertz sensor product line is targeted at the industrial homeland security and military markets. Using its fiber coupled technology and high speed Terahertz generation and detection sensors, the Company is engaged in transferring Terahertz technology from the laboratory to the factory floor for use in non-destructive testing and real time quality control.

The Company competes with First Sensor, Illinois Tool Works, JDS Uniphase, Neophotonix, U2T and Nippon Electric.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Patricio Kehoe]
In 2010, the company acquired privately held Nimsoft, a provider of IT performance monitoring solutions for $350 million in cash. In Sep 2010, CA signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hyperformix Inc. Recently; it acquired Layer 7 Technologies, a leading provider of Application Programming Interface (API) security and management. Furthermore, the acquisition of Arcot Systems Inc., a privately held company that provides authentication and fraud prevention software, in a move to boost its security offerings. These acquisitions have helped the firm to strengthen its cloud computing infrastructure and would also help to generate better profitability from the existing technology assets.

Top 10 Semiconductor Stocks For 2015: Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI)

Malaysian Pacific Industries Berhad (MPI) is an investment holding company. The principal activities of MPI, through its subsidiaries are manufacturing, assembling, testing and sale of integrated circuits, semiconductor devices, electronic components and lead frames to customers globally. The Company�� operating geographical segments include Asia, The United States of America, and Europe. The Company's subsidiaries include Carsem (M) Sdn Bhd, Recams Sdn Bhd, Carsem Holdings Limited, Carsem Semiconductor (Suzhou) Co., Ltd, Dynacraft Industries Sdn Bhd, Carter Realty Sdn Bhd, Carter Realty Sdn Bhd and Carsem Holdings (HK) Limited. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sofia Horta e Costa]
Michael Page International Plc (MPI) increased 1.1 percent to 490.2 pence after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. upgraded the stock to buy from neutral, saying the recruitment firm will benefit from a pick-up in the European economy.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Do Women Need Guaranteed Retirement Income Products?

Lower lifetime earnings and longer life expectancies put women at a disadvantage when it comes to a secure retirement. One solution: helping them turn workplace retirement account balances into guaranteed income streams for life. Or in retirement-speak: annuitizing defined contribution plans. "Women would really benefit," said Brigitte Madrian, Aetna Aetna professor of public policy and corporate management at Harvard's Kennedy School, speaking at Congressional hearings on "Women's Retirement Security" convened by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D.-Minn.). It would help with the longevity risk women face, and with the increased risk of cognitive decline and the consequent diminished capacity to manage financial assets that comes with aging.

Even before aging sets in, many women are unprepared to manage retirement assets. Madrian said women have significantly lower scores than men when asked about financial concepts such as inflation, compound interest and diversification, and are more likely than men to answer simply: "I don't know."

One way Sen. Amy Klobuchar is hoping to help shore up women's financial security is with the Paycheck Fairness Act she is co-sponsoring . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So how can the retirement system help them?

The problem as Madrian posed it is that 401(k) plans are generally not annuitized and it's up to workers to figure out how to try to make the money last for a lifetime. By comparison, old-fashioned defined benefit pension plans, which fewer workers have today, guarantee workers lifetime payouts, and the default payout is a joint and survivor annuity. That meant that a surviving spouse—usually a woman–would continue to get lifetime payouts over her lifetime. But with the switch to defined contribution retirement plans—401(k)s, 403(b)s—there is no such guarantee in the vast majority of 401(k) plans.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Yahoo!: This Move Makes It a Good Investment

Best Industrial Conglomerate Stocks To Own Right Now

Since 2012, Yahoo! (YHOO)'s share price has appreciated strongly, primarily due to the appointment of new CEO Marissa Mayer. The new user-centric approach used by the CEO is about developing customized products and services for its users. During the last few years, Yahoo! has consistently lost market share to competitors such as Google and AOL in several segments.

Going forward, it is essential for Yahoo! to reverse the decline in ad revenues and offer better quality content on its websites to generate higher traffic.

With growing popularity of smart phones and tablets, mobile platforms have become key revenue drivers for Internet companies. Higher quality content carried across various Internet-enabled devices can help Yahoo reclaim some of its lost market share and report consistent growth once again.

Quality content

Yahoo generates the highest percentage, 42.5%, of its revenues through display ads. This is followed by search advertising at 34% and subscription business at 15%.

Quality content underpins the volume of revenue generated through display ads. Better quality content will lead to higher user engagement, resulting in higher traffic directed to Yahoo's website. To initiate more user engagement, Yahoo! now offers customized content to users, based on their online footprints and sharing trends on social networking sites.

Such efforts are behind robust growth in Yahoo's monthly unique visitors. Monthly unique visitors for Yahoo grew from 154 million during June 2012 to 167 million in January 2013. This is crucial for Yahoo!'s display ad revenues, as a higher number of unique visitors will lead to more page views.

Increased user engagement through better content will increase the average time spent on each page, which would let Yahoo charge a higher price for display advertising. At present, Yahoo is ranked third in terms of monthly unique visitors; however, with regards to average time spent on its website, Yahoo moves to the second spot.

Key Competition

Yahoo primarily competes with Google and AOL in display advertising. Google generates the highest percentage of its revenues, 61%, though PC search ads. This is followed by mobile search ads at around 13%, and YouTube at 5%. Google is a global leader in the PC search market, with a commanding market share of 67% in 2012.

Within the mobile search market, Google has 97% market share. Google operates its PC search ads division on an EBITDA margin at around 52%; in contrast, the overall EBITDA margin stands at 45%. The primary expense associated with PC search business is the traffic acquisition cost.

AOL generates 32% of its revenues through dial-up Internet subscriptions, followed by display ads on AOL sites at 26%, and display ads on third party websites at around 22%. Monthly unique visitors for AOL sites have droped during the past four years to 113 million from 123 million due to closing operations in several European countries and the sale of a few business units.

To counter the decline in its user base, AOL made several acquisitions during 2010. It acquired TechCrunch, Thing Labs, Huffington Post and StudioNow. Unfortunately, AOL's market share in Internet search has been on a consistent decline over the past five years.

Presently, AOL's market share in internet search is below 1%, and therefore it has recently signed a revenue sharing deal with Google to bolster its presence in the Internet search market.

Initiatives to Bolster the Mobile Platform

Yahoo has strategically discontinued several mobile apps in an attempt to offer only user-centric products. At present, it offers approximately 75 apps; however, it intends to cut this down to a more controllable 15.

Recently, Yahoo reported that during the last quarter its mobile users exceeded the 200 million mark for the very first time. This underpins the importance to providing customized content by consolidating the mobile platform to a more controllable size and offering only user-centric products.

The number of unique users for Yahoo is estimated to grow with increasing Internet penetration in the emerging markets. It has existing partnerships with leading smartphone makers that amalgamate its content on mobile devices. Furthermore, it is also developing apps for the Android cluster in order to develop new partnerships.

Going forward, if Yahoo incrementally develops on the current initiatives taken for smartphones and tablets coupled with more user-centric products, then it should consistently report growth in earnings and provide investors with higher pay-outs.

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French trader arrested after fraud, odyssey

PARIS (AP) — A Frenchman convicted of one of history's biggest trading frauds returned home to serve prison time after a legal saga that captured the national imagination, a pilgrimage to the pope and a plea for presidential clemency.

Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel was shown in footage broadcast on French television crossing the border from Italy to France by foot late Sunday night.

A police official in the French border town of Menton said Kerviel was in custody in a local precinct just after a midnight deadline to begin serving his sentence. It was not immediately clear when or where he would be taken to prison.

Kerviel cost Societe Generale 4.9 billion euros in losses in 2008, rocking the banking world just before the financial market meltdown. He argued that the bank had quietly welcomed his unauthorized trades when they made money, but turned against him when his trades turned sour.

French judges found Kerviel guilty anyway. He was sentenced to three years in prison in a 2010 verdict that was upheld recently by France's highest court.

But he gained nationwide supporters and turned himself into a crusader against a corrupt financial world.

"The fight will continue regardless of what happens," he told journalists while walking toward the border Sunday night.

Top 10 Retail Stocks To Buy Right Now

Before the deadline to begin serving his sentence, Kerviel traveled to Italy to meet the pope and on Saturday appealed to French President Francois Hollande to intervene. Hollande's office said it would consider a specific request for mercy "according to the usual procedure."

But Finance Minister Michel Sapin described Kerviel on Sunday as a criminal.

"The crook is caught, the crook is convicted, the crook should of course serve his sentence," Sapin said Sunday on LCI television.

An internal report by Societe Generale found that managers fai! led to follow up on 74 different alarms about Kerviel's activities. A few executives resigned, and Kerviel's superiors were questioned, but none faced charges.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Time for advisers to get smarter about smart beta strategies

As the universe of strategic-beta products continues to swell it is refreshing to see some efforts being made to help investors and advisers understand how these strategies can be used inside portfolios, as opposed to just pointing out how much better they are than traditional indexes.

Charles Schwab & Co. is making strides in that direction with a rudimentary but effective means of integrating strategic beta into portfolios that include active and index funds.

For starters, let's point out that the most important thing anyone needs to know about strategic beta funds is that they are not traditional market-cap weighted indexes.

Beyond that, all bets are off because strategic beta products (aka, smart beta, alternative beta, fundamental indexing, enhanced indexing, quantamental indexing, etc.) are as unique as they are plentiful.

In essence, these hybrids of indexing and quantitative active management products are not helping to shed a reputation of being overly complex by using a half-dozen different phrases to identify the category. But that's what happens when something starts to take off. And take of it has.

Morningstar Inc. counts strategic beta ETF assets at nearly $350 billion, up from $175 billion two years ago.

The growth is coming from a loyal but still largely concentrated following of new believers of diversifying away from the punishing math of cap-weighted indexed investing that includes automatically adding exposure to the highest value stocks.

“I understand that financial theory says market-cap weighting is correct, but financial theory represents the way things are supposed to work,” said Rob Arnott, chief executive of Research Affiliates, a pioneer in strategic beta strategies.

“Think of a cap-weighted portfolio as having a growth tilt toward momentum and popularity,” he added.

While it is easy to make the case against cap-weighted indexing, it doesn't automatically lead to a slam-dunk sale for strategic beta, primarily because strategic beta is represented by a very diverse mix of quantitative strategies.

As Morningstar's director of passive funds research Ben Johnson explained it, “The common thread among them is that they seek to either improve their return profile or alter their risk profile relative to more-traditional market benchmarks.”

For example, the Direxion Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index ETF (QQQE) offers equal exposure to each of the 100 underlying stocks in the index.

Across the universe of more than 400 strategic beta ETFs tracked by Morningstar the specific emphasis can range from volatility to value bias.

Another way of loo! king at the differences between cap-weighting and strategic beta strategies is to consider the underlying exposures.

At the end of 2013 the traditional cap-weighted S&P 500 Index had a 9.8% exposure to consumer staples, which compares to 20.8% for the S&P 500 Low Volatility Index.

On an equal-weighted basis, the same index had a 7.9% exposure to consumer staples.

The utilities sector stands out as an even more extreme example. The cap-weighted S&P had a 2.9% exposure to utilities in December, compared to 23.7% for the low-volatility index, and 6.1% for the equal-weighted S&P.

“We believe that alternative beta strategies can serve as a nice compliment to both market-cap and actively-managed funds,” said Anthony Davidow, vice president and asset allocation strategist at Schwab's center for financial research.

With that in mind, Mr. Davidow's team has developed some basic pie chart models and portfolio construction levers to help advisers to incorporate strategic beta into client portfolios.

The four key levers to determine where strategic beta might fit are tracking error, loss aversion, alpha, and cost.

Each lever is applied across a table that includes market-cap indexing, strategic beta, and active management.

For example, if tracking the broad market indexes is a high priority with an investor, a portfolio should be more heavily allocated to a market-cap index, and have a lower allocation to a strategic beta fund.

If alpha is the main objective, strategic beta is the best option along with active management, because the market-cap indexes are not designed to provide alpha.

Looked at another way, the Schwab pie-chart models offer general allocation suggestions for market exposure objectives.

Domestic large-cap growth, for example, would include a 50% allocation to strategic beta funds, 30% in market-cap indexes, and 20% in active funds.

Emerging markets exposure, meanwhile would include 50% in active management, 30% in strategic beta, and 20% in market-! cap index! es.

“We believe each style has a role in the portfolio, and each will have its day in the sun,” Mr. Davidow said. “I don't hear a lot of advisers saying they want to give up all together and allocate entirely to [strategic beta], but a lot of advisers just buy without thinking what they are getting with regard to cap-weighted indexes.”

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Home Depot Shares Limp After Earnings Disappoint

Like many retailers, Home Depot Home Depot cited winter weather as one culprit for earnings that didn't measure up to expectations Tuesday.

The home improvement chain recorded net earnings of $1.4 billion, on sales that rose 2.9% to $19.7 billion. Earnings per share of $1.00 were up 20.5% from 83 cents a year ago, but 96 cents when excluding a net gain tied ot selling a piece of the company's stake in HD Supply HD Supply Holdings. The latter figure was shy of the consensus Wall Street call for earnings of 99 cents per share.

"The first quarter was impacted by a slow start to the spring selling season," Chairman and CEO Frank Blake said in Home Depot's earnings release. "But we had solid results in non-weather impact markets and expect our sales for the year to grow in line with the guidance we previously provided."

That guidance calls for fiscal 2014 sales to grow 4.8% from a year earlier. Home Depot also hiked its earnings per share guidance to $4.42 for the year, 17.6% higher than the prior fiscal year and inclusive of $3.75 billion in share repurchases intended for the balance of 2014.

Citi analyst Kate McShane called the retailer's comparable store sales growth, which came in at 2.6% and 3.3% for U.S. stores, "softer than anticipated" in a note Tuesday morning, but said the results were not as weak as feared given quarter's harsh winter weather.

"The reaffirmation of guidance gives us some comfort that spring related sales may have been deferred…and were not lost entirely," McShane added.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Laura Champine expressed similar confidence that the weather impact will only hurt Home Depot in the short term, but warned that the stock is also lacking some of the tailwinds that helped it rally sharply in the past few years.

"Shares are not receiving the strong push from housing market recovery that they had from 2012 to 2013," Champine wrote Tuesday morning. "Recent housing market data suggest momentum is decelerating, including total turnover down for three straight months and home prices declining or flat on a sequential basis for four consecutive months after a year of gains."

Shares of Home Depot fell 1.3% Tuesday morning. Rival Lowe's Cos Lowe's Cos, which is set to report earnings Wednesday, was down 1.1% in pre-market trading. Both stocks have lost more than 8% in 2014.

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Sunday, May 18, 2014

Three stocks all but immune to market turmoil

Investing in the stock market is often compared to gambling. This analogy became particularly popular in the wake of the 1973 publication of Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street, which argued that the movement of asset prices is just, well, too random to outperform on a consistent basis. Most of the time, an active investor employing the tools of technical or fundamental analysis, the hypothesis goes, will underperform a passive investment strategy.

And this is exactly what is observed in the real world: Most money managers underperform the market in the long run. According to an analysis by NerdWallet, actively managed funds underperformed the market by an average of 0.56% (median of 1.36%) in the 10-year period ended December 2012. Even more to the point, a December 2013 study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the average Sharpe ratio for all mutual funds that have been in existence for 30 or more years is 0.37, which compares unfavorably to the S&P 500 at 0.39.

The Sharpe ratio measures the risk-adjusted performance of an investment and can be used as a way to gain insight into where the returns are coming from in a portfolio. Two portfolios with with the same returns could have very different Sharpe ratios if one made risky bets and got lucky, and the other made safe bets that produced superior returns. A high Sharpe ratio is arguably the Holy Grail of investing: low risk, high reward. Or, at least, high reward relative to risk.

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With the random walk theory in mind, it may seem like investments with high Sharpe ratios are rare. This is true to a degree, but these investments do exist, and a few enterprising money managers have developed strategies to capitalize on them. Take, for example, Warren Buffett. According to the NBE study, Buffett achieved a Sharpe ratio of 0.76 for the same 30-year period, d! uring which the average mutual fund manager underperformed the market.

So somewhere out there in the world of equities there are Holy Grail investments. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom like the mantra of the high-return tradeoff (high risk, high reward), but the data don't lie. Here are a couple of stocks that could fit into such a strategy.

1. Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kimberly-Clark is a personal care company that routinely finds itself in lists of top investments, and for good reason. The company is a prime example of a low-volatility stock that has managed to pace or outpace market growth over long periods of time while maintaining a low beta.

Shares have increased nearly 120% over the past five-year period and about 73% over the past 10-year period, slightly higher than the S&P 500 during the first period and on par in the second. With a beta of about 0.25, this growth has been about as stable as possible, and the company has helped lock in long-term investors with a healthy dividend yield of 3% — a dividend that has increased each year since 1972, at that.

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Kimberly-Clark owns the brands behind dozens of consumer staples such as Kleenex, Huggies, Scott, and Cottonelle. According to the company's year-end 2013 results, Kimberly-Clark brands hold the largest or second-largest share of markets in more than 80 countries.

Full-year 2013 sales of $21.2 billion were "essentially even" with 2012, although organic sales increased 4% (3% volume and 1% net selling price growth). Sales growth is expected to contract 1% this year, according to a company forecast, but earnings are expected to continue increasing as operating margin expands. Kimberly-Clark forecasts adjusted earnings in a range between $6 and $6.20 per share, up 4 to 7% on the year.

2. Costco Wholesale Corp.

Costco has not only outperformed the mark! et at low! volatility, but it's done so with style. Shares of the discount retailer are up 160% over the past five-year period and 225% over the past 10-year period, outpacing the S&P 500 in both periods. With a beta of 0.42, volatility is low.

Costco, a big-box retailer blessed with a strong business model, market leadership, and competent executives, pays a starting wage of $11.50 per hour. If you ask CEO Craig Jelinek, he's likely to attribute at least some of his company's success to that fact.

"An important reason for the success of Costco's business model is the attraction and retention of great employees," he said in a statement last year. "Instead of minimizing wages, we know it's a lot more profitable in the long term to minimize employee turnover and maximize employee productivity, commitment and loyalty."

Costco will report earnings at the end of May, and the market appears to be getting increasingly optimistic about the announcement. The retailer recently announced that net sales for the four weeks ended May 4 increased 7% on the year to $8.56 billion. Comparable sales were up 5% over the same period.

3. General Mills Inc.

General Mills is a food company perhaps best known for iconic brands like Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs, Green Giant, and Lucky Charms. Like Kimberly-Clark, General Mills has built itself an empire of leading consumer staples. Shares have climbed more than 106% over the past five years and 136% over the past 10 years, lagging the S&P 500, but not by much. With a beta of 0.22, volatility has been relatively low.

Besides low volatility, General Mills offers a high dividend yield of 3%, currently $1.64 per share. Because of this and its strong record of growth, the company has been considered one of the best bets in the consumer sector, and analysts are expecting more good things in the coming quarter. Earnings are expected to increase 36% on the year to 72 cents per share, while sales are expected to edge 0.4% higher to a mean analyst estimate of $! 4.43 bill! ion.

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