Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now

Canadian oil-sands producers may want to sing "I Want to Be Free" right about now. Between the European Union's proposal of a penalty on oil sands consumed in Europe and the political wrangling surrounding TransCanada's (NYSE: TRP  ) Keystone XL pipeline, producers just can't seem to find a market. Even without the political problems, there are still some massive logistics problems facing Canadian oil sands. Let's take a look at one critical issue with Canadian oil sands and how one U.S. energy play could be a savior.

Sweet Sticky Thing
Even though we call everything "crude oil," every source of crude is different. Crude is a collection of hundreds of different types of molecules that are based on the same basic concept: chains or rings of carbon atoms flanked by hydrogen atoms. Depending on where oil comes from, the percentages of these molecule types change, which changes the physical properties -- and the market value -- of these crudes. In the case of the Canadian oil sands, the product is considered a heavy oil/bitumen crude source. This means it has a much higher percentage of long-chain molecules used for products such as lubricants, residual fuels such as home heating oil, and asphalt for roads and roofs. By contrast, lighter oil types, such as what we're seeing from shale oil in the U.S., have more short-chain molecules and will produce a higher percentage of light products, such as gasoline, kerosene, and jet fuel.�

10 Best Clean Energy Stocks To Own For 2015: STMicroelectronics N.V.(STM)

STMicroelectronics N.V., an independent semiconductor company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of semiconductor integrated circuits and discrete devices. Its products include discrete and standard commodity components, application-specific integrated circuits, custom devices and semi-custom devices, and application-specific standard products for analog, digital, and mixed-signal applications. The company also offers subsystems and modules for the telecommunications, automotive, and industrial markets comprising mobile phone accessories, battery chargers, ISDN power supplies, and in-vehicle equipment for electronic toll payment, as well as provides Smartcard products. Its products are used in various microelectronic applications consisting of automotive products, computer peripherals, telecommunications systems, consumer products, industrial automation, and control systems. The company sells its products through distributors and ret ailers. STMicroelectronics N.V. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Laundon]

  Analog Devices (ADI) is one of the largest semiconductor companies in the motion-sensing space, with a market cap of $15.87 billion. STM Electronics (STM) is a slightly smaller manufacturer; its market cap is $7.6 billion.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid decided today to cut government payment to dialysis clinics. So why did share prices for DaVita HealthCare Partners (DVA) and rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rise so steeply today?

• [By John Udovich]

  Small cap dialysis stock Rockwell Medical Inc (NASDAQ: RMTI) looks set to decline when the market opens after Brean Capital initiated coverage with a sell rating and a price target of $4.00, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at what is going on with the stock along with�the performance of large cap dialysis stocks DaVita Healthcare Partners (NYSE: DVA)�and Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS) along with small cap dialysis stocks NxStage Medical, Inc (NASDAQ: NXTM).�

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners (DVA) soared almost 8.9% to close at $61.55 after the market learned that Medicare funding cuts would come in lower than expected. Rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rose 7.2% on the same news.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Telefonica SA(TEF)

Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By The Investment Doctor]

  In this article I'll follow up on my earlier article on Telefonica (TEF) 'Why Telefonica might be a good investment right now', and have a look at the company's H1 financial results which were published last week. I'll first discuss the numbers, have a closer look at the debt level (as it's one of Telefonica's priorities to considerably reduce this debt) and give my updated opinion at the end of this article.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  You can see the same trends among many individual European stocks. Telecom giant Telefonica (NYSE: TEF  ) has big exposure to Latin America, but investors focus on its home country of Spain in limiting its gains. The same trend has affected French oil giant Total (NYSE: TOT  ) , which shares the same exposure to energy projects around the world yet has been tarnished by its proximity to the crisis-ridden continent. By focusing on value rather than perception, you can get some great values when others are being irrational.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Working with incomplete information is something markets are used to, though, despite the volatility that it can produce. AT&T (NYSE: T  ) posted minimal gains after Spain's Telefonica (NYSE: TEF  ) denied rumors that AT&T was looking to buy out the European telecom giant. With its already massive position in the U.S. wireless market, AT&T will have to look abroad for substantial growth opportunities. With Telefonica having chosen to cut its dividend temporarily in order to reallocate capital, a buyout might have been good news for its shareholders; Telefonica stock is up 3.5% despite its denial. Still, given the amount of money involved -- $93 billion, according to one report -- it would take a massive commitment to get the deal done.

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Charlie: Yes, I have a question. Do you think the opportunity is more in stocks or in debt, or both? If you look at Spain, the biggest companies in Spain, one is a bank, Bank Santander (STD). The other is Telefonica (TEF), a phone company. What other opportunities do you see there?

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)

AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday around midday,�Netherlands based aviation leasing stock�AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) began surging on rumors and closed up 11.6%, meaning its probably time to take a closer look at those rumors along with aviation leasing peers like small caps or mid caps�Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR), Air Lease Corp (NYSE: AL), Fly Leasing Ltd (NYSE: FLY) and AeroCentury Corp (NYSEMKT: ACY).

• [By Jayson Derrick]

  Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-weight rating on Aercap Holdings (NYSE: AER) with a price target raised to $53 from a previous $24. Shares lost 1.32 percent, closing at $47.06.

Top 5 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top 5 Japanese Companies To Invest In Right Now: Walter Energy Inc.(WLT)

Walter Energy, Inc. produces and exports metallurgical coal for the steel industry primarily in the United States. The company also produces thermal and industrial coal, anthracite, metallurgical coke, coal bed methane gas, and other related products. It principally serves electric utility and industrial customers. The company was formerly known as Walter Industries, Inc. and changed its name to Walter Energy, Inc. in April 2009. Walter Energy, Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Heading into the 2Q14 earnings season, we think the coal sector continues to be unloved with met coal prices close to bottom while steam coal prices are slightly cooling off after a strong rally during 1Q14. Similar to 1Q14, the two major challenges for coal producers remain weak met coal pricing and rail service limiting steam coal volume uptick. On the positive side, since 1Q14, we have gotten about 16 MTPA of global met coal production cuts, which are slowly flowing through the system but could take another three months to drive prices higher. On the other hand, rail service (BNSF and CSX) challenges continue, and we do not expect to see any major improvement through 2H14, which is later than expected during 1Q14, when some producers indicated 3Q14 normalization. We expect a majority of earnings calls to be focused on those two themes over and above company-specific issues (asset sales/divestitures, cost control, and balance sheet management). While still in the early d ays, we will look for any color on the coal industry’s preparedness for eventual implementation of GHG regulation announced by the EPA in early June. Within our coal coverage, we are lowering our 2014 EBITDA estimates by an average of 12% for the group, while our 20152016 estimates are largely unchanged. In addition, we are adjusting our price targets for Cloud Pea! k Energy (CLD) to $25 from $26 and Walter Energy (WLT) to $7.50 from $8.50 as we update our coal price deck for 2Q14 actuals and the 3Q14 met coal benchmark settlement, as well as adjust for rail service issues in the Powder River Basin. In terms of our overall coal coverage, we continue to prefer steam coal names and/or low-cost met coal assets with solid balance sheets. Our Outperform rated names include Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, Cloud Peak Energy, and Consol Energy (CNX).

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-5-japanese-companies-to-invest-in-right-now-2.html

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014

Not only is today the day of�Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK-A  ) (NYSE: BRK-B  ) much-anticipated annual meeting, but it's also the day after Berkshire reported its first-quarter results. It makes sense, then that Buffett might have a few words about the quarter during the annual meeting.

Buffett highlighted a few aspects of the quarterly report. He pointed out that foreign currency movements affected the results -- though he underscored the fact that he doesn't pay much attention to those currency fluctuations as it pertains to the businesses. He also noted the continued performance of the BNSF railroad segment, as well as the fact that oil was found near one of the tracks. "And," Buffett quipped, "what better place to find oil?"

But Buffett had his most glowing comments for GEICO. Buffett said that the positive momentum in both closures -- people inquiring about insurance that actually buy -- and persistence -- policy holders renewing policies -- continued and he views this as a very big positive for GEICO and Berkshire as a whole.

Best Quality Companies To Buy For 2015: Trius Therapeutics Inc.(TSRX)

Trius Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of antibiotics for serious, life-threatening infections in the United States. Its lead product includes Torezolid Phosphate, which is in Phase-III clinical trials for the treatment of serious gram-positive bacterial infections, initially for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections. The company is also developing antibiotics for gram-negative infections using its proprietary discovery platform under two contracts funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Defense Threat Reduction Agency. It has a cooperative research and development agreement with Lawrence Livermore National Security LLC for the research and development of gram-negative biodefense pathogens; and a license agreement with Dong-A Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to develop and sell Torezolid Phosphate outside of Korea. The company was formerly known as Rx3 Pharmac euticals, Inc. and changed its name to Trius Therapeutics, Inc. in February 2007. Trius Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bob's Stocks]

  Back on February 4th, I wrote an article regarding another antibiotic stock named Trius Therapeutics (TSRX). It was trading at $5.00 per share at the time, and I put a price per share prediction of $13.00. I also stated it was a takeover target. Yesterday, Cubist Pharmaceuticals bought Trius Therapeutics for $13.50 a share. You can read that article here.

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Le Gaga Holdings Limited (GAGA)

Le Gaga Holdings Limited engages in cultivating, processing, and distributing vegetables, fruits, and tea leaves in the People�s Republic of China and Hong Kong. The company is also involved in cultivating and selling fir trees. It offers solanaceous vegetables, including sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, and cucumbers; leafy vegetables comprising flowering Chinese cabbage, baby bok choy, and baby Chinese cabbage; and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and Chinese cabbage. As of March 31, 2012, the company operated 11 farms with an aggregate area of 1,671 hectares in Fujian, Guangdong, and Hebei provinces. It sells approximately 50 varieties of vegetables primarily to wholesalers, institutional customers, and supermarket chains. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Le Gaga Holdings (NASDAQ: GAGA) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings.

  Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.34 per share on revenue of $1.01 billion.

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.(JOSB)

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. engages in designing, manufacturing, retailing, and direct marketing men?s tailored and casual clothing and accessories in the United States. The company?s product offerings include tuxedos, suits, shirts, vests, ties, sport coats, pants, sportswear, overcoats, sweaters, belts and braces, socks, and underwear. It sells its products primarily under the Jos. A. Bank label through its own and franchised stores, and catalogs, as well as the Internet at josbank.com. The company also sells branded shoes from various vendors. As of April 30, 2011, it operated 515 retail stores, which consists of 489 company-owned full-line stores, 12 company-owned outlet and factory stores, and 14 stores owned and operated by franchisees in 42 states and the District of Columbia. The company was founded in 1905 and is based in Hampstead, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Would anyone care to sell a fine asset to a network of gentlemen's clothing stores? Jos. A. Bank (NASDAQ: JOSB  ) is trying to find out the answer to that question. In a press release, the company revealed that it "has been and is considering strategic opportunities to enhance shareholder value, including seeking potential acquisitions."

• [By Jack Kramer and Nick Martell] Links worth snacking on: Chart of the Week: The six greatest investors of all time. BlackRock Blog: Three ways men and women make different investment decisions. Harvard Business Review: Three mistakes to avoid when networking. Slate: How the burrito is the future of the American economy. Freakonomics: Want to win Olympic medals? Fix your economy. Business Insider: What's inside the $85,000 Academy Awards nominee gift bag? Quartz: Will J. Crew have an IPO, be sold, or merge (with Uniqlo)? Modern Luxury: Young banking bros are heading West. Sorry, Jennifer Lawrence. You were phenomenal in American Hustle, but we think that February deserves a gold statue from the Academy -- not only was it the Dow's best month since January 2013, but the S&P 500 closed above a record 1,850 points for the first time ever. With those kinds of performances, Wall Street should be throwing February an after-party worthy of a Miley Cyrus publicity stunt. � 1. The fourth-quarter earnings winner ...
  Domino's Pizza's (NYSE: DPZ  ) �earnings were double-stuffed like their crusts, jumping 18% from last year as the chain opens up new ovens internationally. The U.S. market is tight-packed with pizza spots, from your favorite $1-a-slice deal to luxurious brick-oven operations, so the 570-plus new stores abroad are bringing home the bread for Domino's. � But what about expectations? Analysts have already been pretty hungry and bullish on Domino's over 2013. Wall Street was already projecting profit growth of 16% for Domino's and has sent the stock up 63% in the past year. � To show the love, Domino's isn't doing a new extra-pepperoni deal, but increasing its dividend by $0.25 per share. The news is a sign that a growing Domino's is ready to return cash to shareholders as its spreads the dough into new lands.
  2. ... and the fourth-quarter earnings loser
  Target (NYSE: TGT  ) �earnings slid a whopping 46% after the 40-million-credit card s
• [By Reuters]

  Craig Warga/Bloomberg via Getty Images NEW YORK -- Looks like the best suitor won. After an extended chase that included overtures on both sides, Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank will combine to create the nation's fourth largest seller of menswear. Men's Wearhouse (MW) said Tuesday that it's buying its rival Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (JOSB) for $1.8 billion. The company will pay $65 a share, a 5 percent premium to Jos. A. Bank's most recent closing price. As part of the deal, Jos. A. Bank also said it's terminating its deal to acquire the parent company of Eddie Bauer, which sells rugged outerwear. Shares of both companies rose on the news: Men's Wearhouse's shares were up nearly 5 percent to $57.13, while shares of Jos. A. Bank increased nearly 4 percent to $64.22. The acquisition comes after months of the two chains publicly fighting over who would acquire whom. Industry watchers had speculated that a merger was inevitable given the challenges the companies face in the increasingly competitive menswear landscape. With more than 1,700 U.S. stores and $3.5 billion in annual sales, the combined company's reach in men's clothing will fall behind only Macy's (M), Kohl's (KSS) and J.C. Penney (JCP). "Together, Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank will have increased scale and breadth," Doug Ewert, president and CEO of Men's Wearhouse, said in a statement. Jos. A. Bank made the first move in October when it offered to buy its larger rival for $2.3 billion, just a few months after Men's Wearhouse ousted its founder and chairman. Men's Wearhouse shot down that offer, and turned the tables, offering to buy its rival for $1.54 billion. But after Jos. A. Bank turned down that bid, Men's Wearhouse increased its offer to $1.6 billion, and then again to $1.78 billion. In the middle of the back-and forth, Jos. A. Bank said last month that it was buying the parent of Eddie Bauer, but left the door open for a deal with Men's Wearhouse. At the time, it said if it received

• [By Ben Eisen and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (JOSB) �slipped 0.3% Friday after the clothing retailer adopted a shareholder-rights plan to limit the stake an investor can take in the company, known as a poison pill. Jos. A. Bank recently fended off a buyout offer from larger competitor Men�� Wearhouse Inc. (MW) , whose shares were up 0.4% Friday.

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: eHealth Inc.(EHTH)

eHealth, Inc. offers Internet-based insurance agency services for individuals, families, and small businesses in the United States. The company also offers technology licensing and Internet advertising services. Its ecommerce platforms organize and present health insurance information in various formats, as well as enables individuals, families, and small businesses to research, analyze, compare, and purchase various health insurance plans. The company offers various medical health insurance coverage plans, such as preferred provider organization, health maintenance organization and indemnity plans, Medicare plans, short-term medical insurance, student health insurance, and health savings account eligible health insurance plans, as well as ancillary plans, such as dental, vision, and life insurance. Its customers access its ecommerce platforms through its Websites, including eHealth.com, eHealthInsurance.com, eHealthMedicare.com, and PlanPrescriber.com, as well as through a network of marketing partners. The company was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  The other option here is eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH  ) �a private health insurance platform for individuals, families, and small businesses that's been around for years. In its third-quarter results released last week, eHealth noted that membership had risen by 24% to 1.147 million from the year-ago period, clearly showing skepticism in the Obamacare health reform law suggesting the success and options its private platform offers. If there's any company that can use Healthcare.gov's nightmarish start to its advantage, it's eHealth!

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Stocks finished mix today, though it’s probably more fair to say they hardly moved at all.�Intel�(INTC), Facebook (FB) and�Achillion Pharmaceuticals (ACHN) gained, while�CR Bard�(BCR) and eHealth (EHTH) fell.

• [By David Williamson]

  Obamacare is racking up expenses, in particular, with the creation of insurance exchanges. In this video, David Williamson looks at this feature of Obamacare, and a possible free market solution. The problem is that these exchanges are proving more expensive than originally thought, up to an estimated $5.7 billion for 2014. No wonder less than half of the states in the country have come on board. One solution is an online insurance exchange. A form of such an exchange already exists. Will it work for a nationwide insurance market?�Hard to say. On the one hand, it could offer small businesses unprecedented access to insurance plans. On the other hand, an online market may simply offer those plans with the best commissions and not the best deals.� (NASDAQ: EHTH  )

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH  ) �-- a provider of private market online health insurance services for individuals, families, and small businesses -- jumped as much as 17% after the company reported third-quarter earnings results.

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Atlas Energy LP (ATLS)

Atlas Energy, L.P. (Atlas Energy), incorporated on December 15, 2005, is a limited partnership. The Company's assets consist of the Company's ownership interests in the Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (ARP), an independent developer and producer of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGL), with operations in basins across the United States; Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (APL) a midstream energy service provider engaged in natural gas gathering, processing and treating services in the Anandarko and Permian Basins of the United States, and Lightfoot Capital Partners, LP (Lightfoot LP) and Lightfoot Capital Partners GP, LLC (Lightfoot GP), the general partner of Lightfoot L.P. (collectively, Lightfoot), entities which incubate new master limited partnerships (MLPs) and invest in existing MLPs. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had an approximate 16% general partner interest and 12% limited partner interest in Lightfoot.

On April 30, 2012, ARP acquired 277 billion cubic feet equivalent of proved reserves, including undeveloped drilling locations, in the core of the Barnett Shale from Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (Carrizo). The assets include 198 gross producing wells. On July 26, 2012, ARP acquired Titan Operating, L.L.C. (Titan), which owned approximately 250 billion cubic feet equivalent of proved reserves and associated assets in the Barnett Shale on approximately 16,000 net acres. Titan's assets are located in close proximity to the assets acquired from Carrizo in the Barnett Shale. On September 24, 2012, ARP acquired Equal Energy, Ltd�� (Equal) remaining 50% interest in approximately 8,500 net undeveloped acres. On December 20, 2012, ARP acquired 210 billion cubic feet equivalent of proved reserves in the Fort Worth basin from DTE Energy Company (DTE). The assets include 261 gross producing wells on over 88,000 net acres. The acreage position includes approximately 75,000 net acres prospective for the Marble Falls play, in which there are over 700 identified vertical drilling l! ocations..

In February 2012, APL acquired a gas gathering system and related assets, at its WestOK region. In June 2012, APL acquired a gas gathering system and related assets in the Barnett Shale in Tarrant County, Texas. In December 2012, APL acquired 100% interests held by Cardinal Midstream, LLC (Cardinal) in three wholly owned subsidiaries. The assets of these companies include gas gathering, processing and treating facilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas as the Tupelo plant, the East Rockpile treating facility, a fixed fee contract gas treating business, a 60% interest in Centrahoma Processing, LLC (Centrahoma), the Coalgate and Atoka plants, and the prospective Stonewall plant.

Atlas Resource Partners

During the year ended December 31, 2012, ARP�� average daily net production was approximately 77.2 million cubic feet equivalent. As of December 31, 2012, ARP owned production positions, including the Barnett Shale and Marble Falls play in the Fort Worth Basin in northern Texas; the Appalachia basin, including the Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale; the Mississippi Lime and Hunton plays in northwestern Oklahoma, and the Chattanooga Shale in northeastern Tennessee, the Niobrara Shale in northeastern Colorado, the New Albany Shale in southwestern Indiana, and the Antrim Shale in Michigan. ARP has ownership interests in over 525 wells in the Barnett Shale and Marble Falls play. ARP has ownership interests in over 10,200 wells in the Appalachian basin, including approximately 270 wells in the Marcellus Shale. The Chattanooga Shale in northeastern Tennessee, the Niobrara Shale in northeastern Colorado, the New Albany Shale in southwestern Indiana, and the Antrim Shale in Michigan.

Atlas Pipeline Partners

APL conducts its business in the midstream segment of the natural gas industry through two reportable segments: gathering and processing, and transportation, treating and other. The gathering and processing segment consist! s of the A! rkoma, WestOK, WestTX and Velma operations, which are comprised of natural gas gathering and processing assets servicing drilling activity in the Anadarko, Arkoma and Permian Basins, and natural gas gathering assets located in the Barnett Shale play in Texas and the Appalachian Basin in Tennessee. Gathering and processing revenues are derived from the sale of residue gas and NGLs and the gathering and processing of natural gas.

APL's gathering and processing operations, own, have interests in and operate 12 natural gas processing plants with aggregate capacity of approximately 1,090 million cubic feet per day located in Oklahoma and Texas; a gas treating facility located in Oklahoma, and approximately 10,100 miles of active natural gas gathering systems located in Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee and Texas. APL's gathering systems gather natural gas from oil and natural gas wells and central delivery points and deliver this gas to processing plants, as well as third-party pipelines.

APL's gathering and processing operations are located in Golden Trend, Mississippian Limestone and Hugoton field in the Anadarko Basin; the Woodford Shale; the Spraberry Trend, which is an oil play with associated natural gas in the Permian Basin, and the Barnett Shale. APL's gathering systems are connected to approximately 8,600 receipt points, consisting of individual well connections and secondarily, central delivery points, which are linked to multiple wells.

APL's transportation and treating operations consists of 17 gas treating facilities used to provide contract treating services to natural gas producers located in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, and a 20% interest in West Texas LPG Pipeline Limited Partnership (WTLPG), which owns a common-carrier pipeline system, which transports NGLs from New Mexico and Texas to Mont Belvieu, Texas for fractionation. WTLPG is operated by Chevron Pipeline Company, an affiliate of Chevron Corporation (Chevron), which owns the remaining 80% i! nterest. ! The contract gas treating operations are located in various shale plays, including the Avalon, Eagle Ford, Granite Wash, Haynesville, Fayetteville and Woodford.

The Company competes with Access Midstream Partners, LP; Caballo Energy, LLC, Carrera Gas Company; Copano Energy, LLC; Crosstex Energy Services, L.P.; DCP Midstream, LLC; Energy Transfer Partners, LP.; Enogex, LLC; Lumen Midstream Partners, LLC; MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P.; Mustang Fuel Corporation; ONEOK Field Services Company, LLC; Scissor Tail Energy, LLC; SemGas, L.P.; Southern Union Company; Superior Pipeline Company, LLC; Targa Resources Partners LP, and West Texas Gas, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  The management team at oil and gas company�Atlas Energy (NYSE: ATLS  ) has really taken Warren Buffett's advice to heart. Buffett's old adage to "be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful" seems to be that team's approach. After selling its shale assets to Chevron at the top of the market, the company has been diligently acquiring natural gas assets at the market's low. That blueprint continues to be followed as evidenced by the recently announced acquisition of substantial natural gas assets via its master limited partnership, Atlas Resource Partners (NYSE: ARP  ) .

Hot Railroad Stocks To Buy For 2014: Watsco Inc.(WSO)

Watsco, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment in the United States. It distributes residential central air conditioners; gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment and systems; and other specialized equipments. The company also distributes various parts, including replacement compressors, evaporator coils, motors, and other component parts; and supplies comprising thermostats, insulation material, refrigerants, ductwork, grills, registers, sheet metal, tools, copper tubing, concrete pads, tape, adhesives, and other ancillary supplies. It serves approximately 50,000 contractors and dealers that service the replacement and new construction markets. The company also exports its products to Latin America and the Caribbean. Watsco, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  Watsco Inc (WSO), a distributor of air conditioning, heating, and refrigeration equipment, announced early on Wednesday that it is raising its quarterly dividend payout by 60%.

  The company will now pay a quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share, up from the previous payout of 25 cents per share. This dividend will be paid on October 31 to shareholders of record on October 15, with an ex-dividend date of October 10.

  Albert H. Nahmad, Watsco’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer stated, “Our philosophy of sharing cash flow through dividends continues. As we have stated many times in the past, our goal over the long-term is to pay increasing dividends while maintaining a conservative balance sheet with capacity to make investments in our business and build our network. We will consider future increases in light of such investment opportunities, cash flow, general economic conditions and our overall financial condition.��/p>

  Watsco shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up 25.49% year-to-date.

• [By Marc Bastow]

  HVAC parts and components distributor Watsco (WSO) announced a 60% dividend increase to 40 cents per share, payable Oct. 31 to shareholders of record as of Oct. 10.
  WSO Dividend Yield: 1.7%

• [By Greg Williamson]

  A successful HVAC distribution company with great growth potential
  An excellent way to profit from these tailwinds is by investing in Watsco (NYSE: WSO  ) (NYSE: WSO  ) (NYSE: WSO  ) . Watsco is a leading distributor of HVAC equipment, with more than 570 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Watsco also exports products to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Best Telecom Stocks To Buy Right Now

Best Telecom Stocks To Buy Right Now: Lumos Networks Corp (LMOS)

Lumos Networks Corp. is a fiber-based service provider in the Mid-Atlantic region. The Company provides data, broadband, voice and Internet protocol (IP) services over fiber optic network. The Company offers a range of data and voice products supported by approximately 5,800 fiber-route miles in Virginia, West Virginia, and portions of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. Its products and services include metro Ethernet, IP services, business advantage bundle, managed router service, broadband, voice services and Web hosting. On October 14, 2011, NTELOS Holdings Corp. announced a distribution date of October 31, 2011, for the spin-off of Lumos Networks Corp.

The Companys broadband services include Business DSL, Dedicated Business Service, Managed Router Services, Business Broadband XL, Business PC Services and Web Hosting. Its IP services include Integrated Access, IP Trunking, IP Centrex and IP Phones. Its voice service include Business Voice, Busin ess Advantage Bundle, nTouch, Intelligent Messaging, Simultaneous Ring, Conference Calling and Long Distance. Its data services include Metro Ethernet and Quality of Service. Lumos Networks Business DSL provides up to six megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream. Its managed router support service equipment includes staging, installation, configuration, and maintenance while support provides around-the-clock monitoring, management and trouble resolution and direct access to networking experts. Its Business Broadband XL offers a selection of high download speeds. Lumos Networks' Integrated Access solution can integrate local voice, long distance, voicemail, and broadband Internet access. Lumos Networks nTouch brings voicemail linking IP Centrex and nTelos Wireless phone.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Networks (NASD! AQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.

  Top Headline
  Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Top losers in the sector included NQ Mobile (NYSE: NQ), off 5.8 percent, and Lumos Networks (NASDAQ: LMOS), down 2.9 percent.

  Top Headline
  Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Citigroup's quarterly profit surged to $3.94 billion, versus a year-ago profit of $3.81 billion. On a per-share basis, it earned $1.23. Excluding one-time items, its earnings rose to $1.30 versus $1.29. Its revenue declined to $20.12 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.14 per share on revenue of $19.37 billion.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-telecom-stocks-to-buy-right-now-3.html

Is a Credit Card Balance Transfer Right for You?

Credit card companies offer all sorts of "welcome gifts" to entice consumers to apply for their cards. One of the most common is special interest rates on balance transfers, and some cards won't charge you any interest on transfers for a year and a half.

Photo: Pixabay 

So, if you have a lot of credit card debt, is it a good idea to transfer your balances to a new card to reduce the amount of interest you'll pay? Like most other financial decisions, there are pros and cons here, so let's see if it's the right move for you.

Interest savings, even after the fees
Some, but not all, credit cards with balance transfer offers charge a "transfer fee," which generally runs 3%-4% of the amount you move. If you transfer a $2,000 balance, expect to pay $60-$80 when the balance transfer is complete.

However, this might be a small price to pay compared to the alternative. Even if your current credit card has a relatively low interest rate, say 12.99%, a $2,000 balance will cost you about $260 per year to maintain.

If you look hard enough, you can find offers without any fees. For example, all of the major cards offering 18-month 0% balance transfers seem to charge a 3% fee, while the Chase Slate card offers a slightly shorter time frame (15 months) without any transfer fee. If you think you'll be able to pay off the balance three months earlier, an option like this can save you money.

You can compare some of the current balance transfer offers here.

Could it raise you credit score?
Maybe. Thirty percent of your FICO credit score (the score most widely used by lenders) comes from a category called "amounts owed." A balance transfer won't reduce the dollar amount of money you owe, but it could definitely help you out here.

"Amounts owed" refers not to the actual dollar amounts you owe, but to the amount you owe relative to your total available credit. In fact, many people with lots of credit card debt have fantastic credit scores.

Hot Biotech Stocks To Watch Right Now

If you owe $4,000 on your credit cards and have a total limit of $8,000, you're using 50% of your available credit. If you were to open a new credit card with a $5,000 limit and transfer your balance onto it, you're now only using about 30% of your enhanced total credit line.

Most experts recommend keeping your total credit use under 30% at an absolute maximum, so if you're using more and can't afford to pay down a big chunk of it, a balance transfer could indeed boost your score.

What about your old cards?
If you transfer your balance, then close your old cards, the net effect on your credit should be a wash. In fact, any impact on your credit score could be negative, as the new card will produce an inquiry on your credit, which could drop your score by a few points.

Balance transfers are most effective when you consolidate your debt onto the new card at 0% interest and then leave your existing accounts dormant. This gives you the best of both worlds: not only could your score benefit from lower use of your available credit, but you'll also pay no interest on your debt (for a while).

Are you an easy victim of temptation?
Whether transferring your credit card balances is a good idea for you really comes down to how easily you give in to the temptation to spend.

If you're one of those people who has $9,900 in credit card debt simply because your limit is $10,000, maybe opening a new card and increasing your credit line is not the best move.

On the other hand, if you manage your debt well and don't charge a lot of purchases simply because you can, there is a pretty good case to be made for taking advantage of a good balance transfer offer.

Warren Buffett: This new technology is a "real threat"
At the recent Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett admitted this emerging technology is threatening his biggest cash-cow. While Buffett shakes in his billionaire-boots, only a few investors are embracing this new market which experts say will be worth over $2 trillion. Find out how you can cash in on this technology before the crowd catches on, by jumping onto one company that could get you the biggest piece of the action. Click here to access a FREE investor alert on the company we're calling the "brains behind" the technology.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now

After being completely obliterated during the financial crisis, commercial real estate rose sharply in the subsequent years as investors sought the sectors high dividends and values. Overall, real estate investment trusts (REITs) managed to provide investors with a 17.8% annualized return from 2010 through 2012. Those gains continued into the beginning of 2013.

Then the Fed began its tapering talk.

With the potential of rising interest rates on the table, investors have shunned high dividend paying sectors and shares of REITs have plunged in wake of the Fed�� news. Yet, given the commercial real estate sectors long term history of outperformance, investors looking for bargains may want to scoop up shares of operators of shopping plazas, office buildings and hospitals.

SEE: The REIT Way

Better Valuations
After reaching a six-year high set on May 21, 2013, REITs have plunged about 14.75% since the Federal Reserve provided an update regarding its plans for future bond purchases. However, investors may not want to cast off their commercial real estate holdings just yet in the face of the Fed�� taper talk. That�� because REITs continue to offer plenty of portfolio benefits- and time to buy hasn�� been better.

Top 10 Media Companies To Buy For 2015: Thomas Cook Group plc (TCG)

Thomas Cook Group plc is a United Kingdom-based leisure travel company. The Company operates in 19 source markets and operates under brands, including Thomas Cook, Neckermann, Condor, Jet tours, Ving, Spies and Tja reborg. Thomas Cook directly or indirectly controls a number of subsidiaries. The Company also has investments in other companies. It operates a combined fleet of 87 aircraft. The Company�� operating structure comprises four segments which are principally organized according to the location of the customer�� origin. These are United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Northern Europe and Airlines Germany. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Rio Tinto Group climbed 2.9 percent after saying it will cost $3 billion less than projected to increase iron ore output capacity. Boliden AB (BOL) added 3.1 percent as Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock. Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) rose 13 percent after the travel operator posted a 49 percent increase in full-year earnings. British tobacco companies slipped following a report that after a U.K. minister announced the review of cigarette packaging.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) tumbled 9.9 percent for the biggest drop in five months. UBS AG removed the 172-year-old U.K. tour operator from its list of preferred stocks, citing the ��igh-profile media coverage��of the violence in Egypt.

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Thomas Cook Group Plc (TCG) dropped 7.7 percent to 116.1 pence. The tour operator admitted new shares to its listing this week. The company last month announced plans to raise 425 million pounds in a rights offer and share placement.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Imagination Technologies Group PLC (IGNMF.PK)

Imagination Technologies Group plc is engaged in multimedia and communication technologies. The Company operates in two segments: Technology business and the Pure business. The Company�� Technology business segment is engaged in the development of embedded graphics, video, display and multi-threaded processor and multi-standard broadcast receiver and connectivity technologies for licensing to semiconductor companies for incorporation into silicon devices. The Company�� Pure business segment is engaged in the development and marketing of consumer products to showcase the technologies of the Technology business and to develop markets for such technologies. In March 2012, Toumaz Ltd completed the exchange of Imagination Technologies Group plc's interest in Toumaz Ltd�� Toumaz Microsystems subsidiary. In February 2013, it acquired the operating business and certain patent properties of MIPS Technologies, Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ashraf Eassa]

  However, I expect that Intel is at risk of having a significant marketing problem trying to sell a dual core product into a world of quad core phones, even if the dual core part delivers better performance/watt. I further expect that from what is currently known about Bay Trail's GPU (4 EU Gen7 GPU), it is unlikely that -- unless Intel is either using Imagination's (IGNMF.PK) next generation PowerVR 6 or a beefed up Gen7 design for the "Merrifield" SoC -- it will be as competitive with the Snapdragon 800 on the GPU side of things, which could pose as an additional headwind to adoption. I also believe that the Q1 2014 launch curtails any hope that there will be a 14nm smartphone product launched in 2014 (although Mr. Krzanich's comments about "acceleration" could be a source of optimism here), which means that the company's process lead could ultimately prove to be ephemeral in this particular end market. Fortunately, product cycles in this space are short, so it may be okay to have Merrifield be reasonably short lived.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Nuvilex Inc (NVLX.PK)

Nuvilex, Inc., incorporated on October 28, 1996, operates independently and through wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company is a biotechnology and life technology company with a specialty in living-cell encapsulation. It is focused on preparations for a new pancreatic cancer clinical trial through live-cell encapsulation of chemotherapeutic-converting cells. It has created the hardware and operating platform to envelop or encapsulate its own or other company's software products, or cells. These cells are then packaged in its live cell encapsulation operating system. Its products include Cinnechol, Cinnergen, Cinnsational, Citroxin, Cyclosurface, Cosmetics, Infinitink, Talsyn, Oraphyte and PurEffect. On July 10, 2013, the Company acquired Bio Blue Bird AG. In November 2013, the Company announced that it has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to use the cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology for the development of treatments for diabetes from SG Austria Pt e. Ltd.

Cinnechol

Cinnechol is a gluten free/wheat free all-natural supplement designed to help maintain normal cholesterol levels and support normal cardiovascular function through a healthy diet and regular exercise and to help individuals manage cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Cinnechol may provide a natural alternative for those with high cholesterol and intolerant of, or elect not to take statins.

Cinnergen

Cinnergen is a gluten free/wheat free all-natural liquid whole food nutritional supplement that provides nutrients to help the body efficiently process glucose, is made from natural ingredients. Clinical studies using Cinnergen, as well as peer reviewed research suggest constituents of Cinnergen may help to reduce glucose absorption in the small intestine, limit glucose synthesis and increase its metabolism and prevent conditions associated with pre-diabetes or diabetes types one and two by delivering amin o acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, and pl! an! t based extracts to the body thus helping control glucose levels.

Cinnsational

Cinnsational is a gluten free/wheat free all-natural calorie-free, liquid nutritional supplement contains concentrated blend vitamins, essential amino acids, and other beneficial ingredients to help the body combat symptoms associated with alcohol sensitivity, including nausea, fatigue and headaches.

Citroxin

Citroxin is an all-natural, eco-friendly surface cleaner. Citroxin is protected by patents in the United States and Thailand.

Cyclosurface Cosmetics

Nuvilex�� Cyclosurface color enhancement technology provides formulators and manufacturers of cosmetics and other consumer products the ability to use less wax and other potentially detrimental additives in their products through a lipophilic surface treatment. It improves pigment dispersion enabling products that feel lighter on the skin and make the skin look radia nt while maintaining or enhancing the color and durability of the cosmetic product.

I-Boost Immune Bar

I-Boost Immune Bar is a gluten free/wheat free all-natural nutritional bar designed to protect, stimulate, and boost the immune system. It was reformulated and contains a blend of vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients designed to enhance the body's natural ability to defend itself.

Infinitink

Infinitink is a permanent, yet removable tattoo ink, was engineered specifically for removal in fewer laser treatments than standard tattoo ink. Typically, lasers used for removal of tattoos use 532 and 1064 nanometer wavelengths which closely match the Infinitink tattoo pigments, enabling more easily removed tattoos.

Oraphyte

Oraphyte is the Company�� all-natural nematocide, is a non-toxic, biodegradable formulation that damages a nematode's skin surface, compromising its immune system, enabling it to be killed by the environment. In field tests, Oraphyte! redu! ce! d probl! ematic nematodes, parasitic plant worms found in soil, compared to non-treated controls.

purEffect

PurEffect is a three part, all-in-one acne treatment designed to cleanse, tone, and heal skin combining ingredients to help maintain a radiant, blemish-free complexion. Benzoyl peroxide, the active ingredient in purEffect is the safest, recommended ingredient used to treat acne. This line of products completed pre-marketing testing by CK41.

Specialty, Private Label Inks

The Company has the potential to manufacture specialty inks for private label customers derived from the Company's Virgin and Infinitink product lines and are formulated to specific customer needs. The Company's specialty inks are formulated to be all natural, heavy metal and toxin-free.

Talsyn Scar Cream

Talsyn Scar Cream is a cream that delivers lipids, peptides, and botanical extracts to the skin. It was clinically proven to impro ve appearance of keloids, surgical incisions, and scars through decreasing their width, length, depth, and redness for both old and new scars. Talsyn Scar Cream has been endorsed and used by plastic and reconstructive surgeons.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alan Brochstein]

  I actually spoke with Mr. Tim Matula, who is a former director and also handled investor relations for Diamond Ranch Foods (the predecessor company). Mr. Matula is also a long-time director at Nuvilex (NVLX.PK), which I recently suggested is an overly promoted stock exhibiting several of the signs about which FINRA has been warning investors (more on this later). Matula answered the phone number included on recent press releases by PLPL - I was expecting to hear an answering machine, as my call was in the late evening. He explained that he was no longer involved with the company due to having too many time-constraints. He also explained his sale of 4.9mm shares back to the company at $0.025 on February 7th, suggesting an open market sale would have been impossible. Note that PLPL has never traded below $0.04, so I found this curious. It was Matula who passed me along to Shane Traveller. He also told me that he is the brother of Tom Matula, the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board (more later).

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Osage Exploration and Development Inc (OEDV)

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. (Osage) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves and production in the country of Colombia and the state of Oklahoma. The Company�� pipeline is located in Colombia. The Companys focuses on developing its 28,000-acre Horizontal Mississippian block along the Nemaha Ridge in Logan County, Oklahoma, with their partners Slawson Exploration, and U.S. Energy Development Corp. The Company generates oil sales from its production operations in Colombia and in the state of Oklahoma and pipeline revenues from its Cimarrona property in Colombia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two salt water disposal wells and commenced drilling the Wolfe#1-29H, the Company�� horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. In January 2012, the Company began drilling the Krittenbrink 2-36H, the Company�� second well in Logan County.

The Company�� subsidiary, Cimarrona LLC, owns a 9.4% interest in certain oil and gas assets in the Guaduas field, located in the Dindal and Rio Seco Blocks that consist of 21 wells, of which seven are producing, that covers 30,665-acres in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia, as well as a pipeline with a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cimarrona property, but not the pipeline, is subject to an Ecopetrol Association Contract (the Association Contract) whereby the Company pays Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) royalties of 20% of the oil produced.

The Company has acquired oil and gas leases in Logan County, Oklahoma targeting the Mississippian formation. The Mississippian formation is located on the Anadarko Shelf in northern Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. The top of this expansive carbonate hydrocarbon system is encountered between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and lies stratigraphically between the Pennsylvanian-aged Morrow Sand and the Devonian-aged Woodford Shale formations. The Mississippian formation reach 600 feet in gross thickness a! nd the targeted porosity zone is between 50 and 300 feet in thickness. The Company owns 100% of the working interest in certain producing oil and natural gas leases located in Osage County, Oklahoma (Hopper Property). The Property consists of 23 wells, 10 of which are producing wells, on 480 acres.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+6.78%) up +0.08 at $1.26 with 39,220 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:56AM EDT August 22, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and provided an update on field operations. For the quarter, the Company reported a 75.8% increase in revenues of $2.4 million compared to the same period in 2012, and operating income of $1.2 million versus a loss of $274,563 for the period ending June 30, 2012.

  Osage participated in drilling ten wells during the second quarter, bringing the total number of wells in which Osage has an interest to twenty-nine as of June 30, 2013. Additionally, the Company reported average daily production roughly in-line with first quarter production.

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+1.96%) up +0.03 at $1.56 with 178,129 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:28PM EDT August 30, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported preliminary production results on the Mallard 1-16H Horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. The well, located in Section 16-17N-3W, achieved a 24-hour peak initial production rate of 705 barrels of oil plus associated natural gas on an electric submersible pump and a 48/64��choke.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Spdr Dj Wilshire Small Cap Value Etf (SLYV)

SPDR DJ Wilshire Small Cap Value (ETF) seeks to replicate, as closely as possible, the performance of the Dow Jones Wilshire Small Cap Value Index (the Index). The Index represents the small-cap portion of the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index (the Composite Index). The Composite Index tracks all the United States common stocks regularly traded on the NYSE, the AMEX and the NASDAQ National Market.

The Index includes the components of the Composite Index ranked 751 to 2,500 by full market capitalization and that are classified as value based on analysis that accounts for six factors. The six factors are projected price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), projected earnings growth, price-to-book ratio, dividend yield, trailing revenue growth and trailing earnings growth. The Fund uses a passive management strategy designed to track the total return performance of the float-adjusted Index.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Lydon]

  The following ETFs are some of the top-ranked small-cap ETFs by Zacks. SPDR S&P 600 Small Cap Value ETF (SLYV) is up 5.8% over the past three months, and up 20.6% in 2013. The financial and industrial sectors are top weightings. Vanguard S&P Small Cap 600 Value ETF (VIOV) is up 6.4% and has gathered 21.5% year-to-date. Similar to SLYV, VIOV is heavy on the financial and industrial sectors.

Hot High Dividend Companies To Buy Right Now: Northstar Realty Finance Corp. (NRF)

NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in real estate debt business, which acquires, originates, and structures debt investments secured primarily by income-producing real estate properties; real estate securities business that invests in commercial real estate debt securities, including commercial mortgage backed securities, REIT unsecured debt, and credit tenant loans; and net lease properties business, which acquires properties that are primarily net leased to corporate tenants. The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT and it would not be subject to federal income tax, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. NorthStar Realty Finance was founded in 1997 and is based in New York City.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Northstar Realty Finance (NRF) is a REIT that acquires, originates, and structures debt investments secured primarily by income-producing real estate properties. Northstar also invests in commercial real estate debt securities, including commercial mortgage backed securities, REIT unsecured debt, and credit tenant loans and has a portfolio of properties that are net leased to commercial tenants.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Not only will following the north star help you find your way when lost, but it will lead you to riches, too. NorthStar Realty Finance� (NYSE: NRF  ) �announced yesterday it�will pay a�regular quarterly dividend�of $0.19 per share on May 17 to the holders of record at the close of business on May 13.�

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  NorthStar Realty Finance Corp.(NRF) disclosed a plan to spin off its asset-management business into a separate publicly traded company, a move investors praised. NorthStar’s shares rose 17% to $11.60 premarket.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Buy Right Now: Visa Inc.(V)

Visa Inc., a payments technology company, engages in the operation of retail electronic payments network worldwide. It facilitates commerce through the transfer of value and information among financial institutions, merchants, consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company owns and operates VisaNet, a global processing platform that provides transaction processing services. It also offers a range of payments platforms, which enable credit, charge, deferred debit, debit, and prepaid payments, as well as cash access for consumers, businesses, and government entities. The company provides its payment platforms under the Visa, Visa Electron, PLUS, and Interlink brand names. In addition, it offers value-added services, including risk management, issuer processing, loyalty, dispute management, value-added information, and CyberSource-branded services. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  This will be a Dow-a-day week of quarterly results with Merck & Co. (MRK) on Monday, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) on Tuesday, Visa Inc. (V) on Wednesday, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) on Thursday, and Chevron Corp. (CVX) on Friday.

• [By Sean Williams]

  And then there's payment processing company Visa (NYSE: V  ) , perhaps one of the very few long-term investments you can get charged up about that combines the potential for rapid growth with consistency in nearly all economic environments. The way I see it, Visa has five opportunities that put it at the head of the class.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-10-blue-chip-stocks-to-buy-right-now.html

Top 5 Cheapest Companies To Own In Right Now

Top 5 Cheapest Companies To Own In Right Now: McDonald's Corporation(MCD)

McDonald?s Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a worldwide foodservice retailer. It franchises and operates McDonald?s restaurants that offer various food items, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages. As of December 31, 2009, the company operated 32,478 restaurants in 117 countries, of which 26,216 were operated by franchisees; and 6,262 were operated by the company. McDonald?s Corporation was founded in 1948 and is based in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Quantum Research]

  The worlds largest restaurant company by revenue, McDonalds (MCD), is losing its popularity among young customers. The company is facing the worst slump in a decade that appears to signal tougher times ahead.

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-5-cheapest-companies-to-own-in-right-now-2.html

Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Own For 2015

Top 5 Cheap Stocks To Own For 2015: Bank of America Corporation(BAC)

Bank of America Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and nonbanking financial services and products to individuals, small- and middle-market businesses, large corporations, and governments in the United States and internationally. The company?s Deposits segment generates savings accounts, money market savings accounts, certificate of deposits, and checking accounts; and Global Card Services segment provides the U.S. consumer and business card, consumer lending, international card and debit card services. Its Home Loans & Insurance segment offers consumer real estate products and services, including mortgage loans, reverse mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and home equity loans. It also provides property, disability, and credit insurance. The company?s Global Commercial Banking segment offers lending products, including commercial loans and commitment facilities, real estate lending, leasing, trade finance, short-term credit, asset-based lending, and indirect consumer loans; and capital management and treasury solutions, such as treasury management, foreign exchange, and short-term investing options. Its Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial products, advisory services, settlement, and custody services; debt and equity underwriting and distribution, merger-related advisory services, and risk management products; and integrated working capital management and treasury solutions. The company?s Global Wealth & Investment Management segment offers investment and brokerage services, estate management, financial planning services, fiduciary management, credit and banking expertise, and asset management products. Bank of America Corporation serves customers through a network of approximately 5,900 banking centers and 18,000 automated teller machines. It was formerly known as NationsBank Corporation and change! d its name on October 1, 1998. Bank of America Corporation was founded in 1874 and is based in Charlott e, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Just when you thought it was safe to buy big-bank shares again, another Fed governor hints at even stiffer regulations for the likes of JPMorgan Chase (JPM)and Bank of America (BAC).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Nomura’s Steven Chubak and Sharon Leung worry that the Federal Reserve’s comprehensive capital analysis and review will lower the return on equity for Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C), though JPMorgan Chase (JPM) comes out looking better in their new analysis. They explain:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  On the flip side, the ETF doesn't invest in companies in the financial, energy, utilities, or real-estate industries -- and to some investors, that makes it more attractive. Consider, for example, that the financial industry is still digging out from the credit crisis of a few years ago, with many banks still carrying troubled loans and facing fines for misconduct. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) , for example, just got whacked with a massive $16.7 billion fine. The existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is also not auspicious for the industry.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-cheap-stocks-to-own-for-2015.html

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now

Popular Posts: 6 Biotechnology Stocks to Sell Now3 Semiconductor Stocks to Buy Now5 Pharmaceutical Stocks to Buy Now Recent Posts: 5 Stocks With Crummy Earnings Growth ��BBRY ZQK RBCN GTAT LTXC 5 Worst Sectors to Avoid This Week 5 Stocks With Awful Cash Flow ��STP ATPG NIHD TWGP AONE View All Posts

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

BlackBerry LImited () engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of wireless solutions worldwide. BBRY also gets F’s in Earnings Momentum, Analyst Earnings Revisions, Equity, Cash Flow and Sales Growth. .

Hot Retail Stocks To Buy Right Now: 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 Anna Prior]

  SunEdison Inc.(SUNE) on Thursday said it completed its purchase of AES Corp.'s(AES) 50% ownership stake in the Silver Ridge Power LLC joint venture.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Stocks on the move: SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) is up 15.9% at $7.89 on news that the firm plans to spin off its semiconductor business.

  In all, 60 stocks put up new 52-week highs today, while 71 stocks posted new lows.

• [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.

• [By Rich Smith]

  MEMC (NYSE: SUNE  ) isn't MEMC anymore.

  Late last week, MEMC Electronic Materials confirmed that it will officially change its name to SunEdison today and adopt the "SUNE" ticker symbol for itself. Stockholder support for the change was said to be "overwhelming."

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: 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.

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: Advantest Corp (ATE)

Advantest Corporation, incorporated in December 1954, is a part of Advantest group. The Company operates in three segments: semiconductor and component test system segment; mechatronics system segment, focusing on peripheral devices including test handlers and device interfaces, and services, support and others segment. The semiconductor and component test system segment provides customers with test system products for the semiconductor industry and the electronic component industry. The mechatronics system segment focuses on peripheral devices to the semiconductor and component test systems. The services, support and others segment consists of comprehensive customer solutions provided in connection with the semiconductor and component test system and mechatronics system segments, support services and an equipment lease business.

Semiconductor and Component Test Systems Segment

Semiconductor and component test systems are used during the semiconductor and electronic component manufacturing process to confirm that a semiconductor functions properly. Semiconductor and component test systems consist of test systems for memory semiconductors and test systems for non memory semiconductors. Advantest�� test systems for memory semiconductors are test systems designed to test high-speed/high performance dynamic random access memory (DRAM) semiconductors used in equipment such as personal computers and servers, as well as flash memory semiconductors used in digital consumer products.

Test systems for memory semiconductors consist of a mainframe and one or more test heads. During testing, a device interface is attached to the test head. During the front-end testing process, wafers are loaded by a prober and are connected to the test system for memory semiconductors through the device interface. Electric signals between the die and the test systems for memory semiconductors are transmitted through probe pins located in the device interface and tested. After front-end te! sting is completed, the wafer is diced into separate dies and properly functioning dies are packaged. During back-end testing, test handlers are used to load these packaged devices onto the test heads, and electric signals are transmitted between the devices and the test heads via the device interface and tested. The test results are analyzed by the test systems for memory semiconductors��hardware circuits and software programs. Customized software programs for each semiconductor are required to analyze the semiconductor tests and test data.

Advantest�� main product lines of test systems for memory semiconductors are the T5500 series, the T5300 series and the T5700 series. The T5593 is a test system targeted at the market for high speed memory semiconductors, such as DDR2- Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) and Synchronous Graphics Random Access Memory (SGRAM). The T5383 is a multi-functional test system for memory semiconductors that reduces testing costs for semiconductor manufacturers. Advantest�� main line of test systems for non memory semiconductors relates to test systems for SoC semiconductors, test systems for liquid crystal display (LCD) driver integrated circuits and test systems for semiconductors used in car electronics. The T6577 test systems for SoC semiconductors in the T6500 series were primarily developed to test micro controller unit (MCU) and SoC semiconductors that control digital consumer products at the production lines. The T6300 series are test systems for LCD driver integrated circuits used with high-definition LCD displays. The T7721, T7722 and T7723 are test systems for non memory semiconductors for mixed signal integrated circuits. The T8571A is a test system for non memory semiconductors that is primarily used to evaluate and analyze CCDs which are image sensors.

Mechatronics System Segment

The Main products in the Mechatronics System Segment are test handlers which handle semiconductor devices and automate the te! sting, an! d device interfaces which are the interfaces with devices being tested. Test handlers are used with semiconductor and component test systems to handle, condition temperature, contact and sort semiconductors and other electronic components during the back-end testing of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Advantest�� test handlers are sold primarily in conjunction with the sale of its semiconductor and component test systems. The M6242 test handler for test systems for memory semiconductors, including DDR-3SDRAM, can handle up to 512 semiconductors at a time. Advantest�� test handlers for non memory semiconductors, including SoC semiconductors, are the M4841, the M4741A and the M4742A, among others.

Advantest develops and manufactures device interfaces for semiconductor and component test systems and supplies device interfaces, such as high performance and high density connectors, socket boards and sockets. For test systems for memory semiconductors, Advantest provides motherboards capable of handling a maximum of 512 semiconductors at a time. For test systems for non memory semiconductors, Advantest provides motherboards that are compatible with a maximum of 3,072 signals. Advantest also provides motherboards designed for use in front-end testing. Advantest provides custom manufacturing of socket boards and performance boards for each device under test in accordance with customers��specifications.

Advantest provides sockets for test systems for memory semiconductors. Advantest provides low-inductance (0.4nH) sockets and fine pitch (0.4mm) sockets for semiconductors that are becoming more high-speed and more compact in size. Advantest provides carrying and contacting mechanism components compatible with each device under test for test handlers for memory semiconductors and test handlers for non memory semiconductors.

Services, Support and Others Segment

In the services, support and others segment, Advantest has focused on maintenance serv! ices, suc! h as installation and repair of Advantest�� products. It also focused on lease and rental services of its products as a part of Advantest�� effort to provide customers with comprehensive solutions.

The Company competes with Teradyne, Inc., Verigy Ltd., LTX-Credence Corporation, Yokogawa Electronic Corporation, FROM30 CO., LTD., EXICON Ltd., UniTest Inc., Delta Design, Inc., Seiko Epson Corporation, Mirae Corporation, TechWing, Inc., TSE Co., Ltd. and Secron Co., Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Nissan's done better this year than electronics maker Advantest (NYSE: ATE  ) , but this stock absolutely blew up over the past week. Advantest's shares shot higher by more than 9%, wiping out pessimism over the company's weak earnings released a few weeks ago. Advantest's net loss and operating profit both fell below its guidance, and despite this week's investor optimism, the future's murky for this company. Financial site TheStreet downgraded the stock last week, citing Advantest's falling earnings, among other issues.

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a Taiwan-based company principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture and distribution of integrated circuit (IC) related products. The Company operates its businesses through wafer manufacture, mask production, wafer testing and packaging components. The Company also involves in the provision of production management, customer services and design services. Its products and services are applied in the manufacture of personal computers and peripheral products, information related products, wire and wireless communication systems, automobile and industrial equipment, as well as consumer electronic products, such as digital disk players, digital televisions (TVs), game consoles, digital cameras, among others. Its customers include Altera, AMD, Broadcom, Marvell, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Analog Devices, Freescale, NXP and Texas Instruments, among others. In July 2010, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. acquired mechanical and engineering equipment from ASML HONG KONG LTD. In September 2010, the Company acquired a set of equipments from ASML HONG KONG LTD. In December 2010, the Company acquired a set of equipment from TOKYO ELECTRON LTD., KLA-TENCOR CORP. and NOVELLUS SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL,B.V. In January 2011, the Company announced that it had acquired a set of equipment from KLA-TENCOR CORP., a set of equipment and facility, and another set of equipment from VARIAN SEMI. EQUIP. ASSOCIATES GmbH. In March 2011, the Company acquired a set of equipments from Rudolph Technologies, Inc.In March 2011, the Company acquired a set of equipments from Rudolph Technologies, Inc. In May 2011, it acquired a set of equipments form APPLIED MATERIALS SOUTH EAST ASIA PACIFIC LTD., Hamatech APE Gmbh and CO. KG, TOKYO ELECTRON LTD., DAINIPPON SCREEN MFG. CO., LTD., and VARIAN SEMI. EQUIP. ASSOCIATES GMBH.

TSMC's customers include semiconductor companies, ranging from fabless semiconductor and systems companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices, In! c., Altera Corporation, Broadcom Corporation, Marvell Semiconductor Inc., MediaTek Inc., nVidia Corporation and Qualcomm Incorporated, to integrated device manufacturers, such as LSI Corporation, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments Inc. Fabless semiconductor and system companies accounted for approximately 80%, and integrated device manufacturers accounted for approximately 20% of its net sales as of December 31, 2009.

The Company manufactures semiconductors using CMOS and BiCMOS processes. The BiCMOS process combines the speed of the bipolar circuitry and the power consumption and density of the CMOS circuitry. It uses the CMOS process to manufacture logic semiconductors, memory semiconductors, including static random access memory (SRAM), flash memory, mixed-signal/ radio frequency (RF) semiconductors, which combine analog and digital circuitry in a single semiconductor, micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS), which combines micrometer featured mechanical parts, analog and digital circuitry in a single semiconductor, and embedded memory semiconductors, which combine logic and memory in a single semiconductor. The BiCMOS process is used to make high-end mixed-signal and other types of semiconductors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) wants to move away from Samsung. This we know. While the South Korean conglomerate has many independent divisions, Apple doesn't like giving the component segment business while the smartphone segment is its most viable competitor. To that end, the surest signs yet have emerged that Apple has inked a three-year deal with Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM  ) .

• [By Sean Williams]

  One name of particular interest here is Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM  ) , which recently introduced what could be the new wave of process technology known as FinFET. Taiwan Semi certainly isn't as well known as its peers, but the complexity of FinFET, and Taiwan Semi's more than fourfold increase in capital expenditures 2009, could be what secures KLA-Tencor many future control and yield contracts.�

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: On Track Innovations Ltd (OTIV)

On Track Innovations Ltd. (OTI) designs, develops and markets solutions based on its secure contactless microprocessor-based smart card technology to address the needs of a range of markets. The Company�� products combine the benefits of both microprocessors and contactless cards. In addition to contactless microprocessor-based smart cards, it also sells products that are based on other card technologies. The Company has focused on the development of its technologies and its products based on its technological platform that consists of smart cards, smart card readers, software tools and secure communication technology. As of December 31, 2012, it offers three lines of solutions, each of which constitutes a complete system, as well as components (such as smart cards and readers) that we sell to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), for incorporation into their own products. OTI�� three vertical markets include Payment Solutions, Petroleum Systems and SmartID Solutions. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

   

  One under-$10 technology player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a major breakout trade is On Track Innovations (OTIV), which designs, develops and markets contactless microprocessor-based smart card solutions to customers in Africa, Europe, the Far East, the Americas and Israel. This stock has been red hot over the last three months, with shares up a whopping 134%.

  If you take a look at the chart for On Track Innovations, you'll notice that this stock has been trending sideways and consolidating over the last month and change, with shares moving between $2.70 on the downside and $3.74 on the upside. Shares of OTIV have now started to spike higher off some near-term support at $3 a share and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade above the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in OTIV if it manages to break out above its 52-week high at $3.74 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 626,538 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then OTIV will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $4.50 to $5.50 a share.

  Traders can look to buy OTIV off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits just below some key near-term support levels at $3.20 or at $3 a share. One can also buy OTIV off strength once it starts to clear its 52-week high at $3.74 a share with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Markman Advisors]

  Public companies leveraging their patent portfolios, (aka "patent plays"), are getting the market's attention. Companies such as Vringo (VRNG), ParkerVision (PRKR), MGT Capital (MGT), Worlds Inc. (WDDD.OB) and others have presented trading opportunities due to their volatility while retaining the chance for a big payoff to those investors who stay the course. Yet there exist viable patent plays that are still undiscovered. Some of these so called "plays," which are not getting enough attention, are actually real companies making and selling real products or services in contrast to pure patent monetization companies. Some known examples are Single Touch Interactive (SITO.OB) and Blue Calypso (BCYP.OB). This article is focused on another one of these patent plays, On Track Innovations Ltd. (OTIV).

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: USmart Mobile Device Inc (UMDI)

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

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

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

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

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

10 Best Semiconductor Stocks To Own Right Now: 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 Bryan Murphy]

  When most investors think of optical sensor makers, they tend to think of larger names like Honeywell International Inc.� (NYSE:HON) or Vishay Intertechnology (NYSE:VSH). And well they should. VSH is a $2 billion company, and HON is a $71.5 billion organization. The fact is, however, there are a few small cap stocks in the optical sensor space that are worth a look, and one of them is worth a very close look right now for a very clear reason... Advanced Photonix, Inc. (NYSEMKT:API).

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Advanced Photonix (NYSE: API) is expected to post a Q4 loss at $0.01 per share on revenue of $7.04 million.

  Sport Chalet (NASDAQ: SPCHB) is projected to post its quarterly earnings.

• [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.