Best Penny Stocks To Buy For 2014: December 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013

This Chart Pattern Says Star Scientific is Prepping a Monster-Sized Move (STSI)

The last time I looked at Star Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ:STSI) was in mid-August, when I pointed out how the stock looked like it was finally beginning a breakout via a move above that nagging ceiling at $2.11. I didn't revisit it in the meantime because STSI peeled back under that key resistance level, and even back under its short-term moving lines. It wasn't a dramatic or painful pullback, but it was more than enough to put the breakout idea on the shelf until further notice.

Consider this that notice.

Though not yet back above the key horizontal ceiling at $2.11, STSI has wiggled its way back above the 20-day (blue) and 50-day (purple) moving average lines today after finding resistance at both of them for the better part of September and early October. That's a huge first step. We've also seen Star Scientific shares leave behind a shallow trail of higher lows since late September, hinting that this isn't just a little volatility.

To fully appreciate the potential upside of Star Scientific, Inc., however, you have to zoom out to a weekly chart where you can see the bigger picture.

As you can see, STSI is already in the midst of a significant recovery effort. It hit a low of $1.15 (again) in June, moved higher, and has at least been holding the line around $1.80 ever since. But, if the stock can move above the $2.11 mark now, it wouldn't just be a catalytic move - it could spark a monster-sized breakout.

See, the shape of the chart since early this year is - so far anyway - a cup and handle pattern. The bowl-shaped dip from February to the April/June low and back up to the $2.11 area in August forms the cup portion of the pattern, and the much shallower lull and rebound effort in the meantime has formed a handle for the cup. The key to the pattern becoming explosive is a move above the brim-line at $2.11. If Star Scientific, Inc. can just move above that line, it could catapult the stock, as is so often the case with this now-rarely-seen long-term chart pattern. It's definitely worth the wait, and putting on your watchlist.

10 Best Cheap Stocks To Own For 2014

If you'd like to get more trading ideas and insights like this one, sign up for the free SmallCap Network daily e-newsletter. It's full of stock picks, market calls, and more.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Deere Up on Earnings, Down on Worries

This leading farming equipment company beat estimates and then saw its shares fall in the same day, but MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks, still thinks it could be a smart play if you're willing to hold out.

It's not frequently that investors hear a company beat earnings estimates by 47 cents a share and then see its shares fall, but that's exactly what we saw yesterday with Deere (DE).

Yesterday, before the open, the company reported earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 of $2.64 (adjusted for one-time items). Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $2.17 a share. Operating margins rose to 15.5% for the quarter. That was a big improvement from the 12.6% operating margin in the fiscal second quarter and about 2 percentage points above what Wall Street expected.

And that may indeed have been the root of the stock's problem yesterday. Although the company crushed earnings estimates, it didn't do nearly as well on revenue. Net sales rose just 4.3% in the quarter, year over year to $9.32, just a tad ahead of the Wall Street estimate at $9.28 billion. For the full 2013 fiscal year, Deere kept to its guidance of a 5% increase in revenue, but for the fourth quarter, the company said it expects a 5% drop in revenue to $8.59 billion. That's below Wall Street projections.

Think about the implications of that. Deere reported surprisingly high earnings this quarter on a huge jump in operating margins on very modest revenue growth. The company is now saying that revenue growth will turn negative in the fourth quarter, and investors have to doubt that Deere can pull anything like another 2 percentage point increase in operating margins out of its hat for the next quarter.

Shares climbed initially yesterday, opening at $84.06, up from the $83.91 close on the good news on earnings. And then preceded to decline as investors absorbed the message of slow revenue growth and the company's forecast of negative revenue growth for the fourth quarter. At the close the stock traded at $82.34, down 1.87% for the day.

With a bumper crop due in this year's harvest, thanks to the end of droughts from Brazil to the US Midwest, crop prices have tumbled. Corn, for example, sells currently for just $4.51 a bushel. That's down from prices above $8 a bushel on this date in 2012. With that, Wall Street is worried that farmers will cut back on purchases of machinery, and such farm supplies as fertilizers, not so much because farm incomes are falling, but because a record or near record harvest will result in a decision to plant fewer acres next year.

Deere noted that even at $4 a bushel for corn, US farmers would still make very good money. But that's not really the issue. The company lowered its estimates for US farm cash receipts by 2.6% to $379.7 billion from $389.8 billion. Deere's equipment sales closely track farm cash receipts, so that reduction in estimates isn't good news for Deere's revenues.

Looking around the company didn't see any big improvement elsewhere that might offset the drop in US farm cash receipts. In the European Union, demand for farm machinery is likely to be lower, as the financial crisis continues to restrict the availability of farm credit, and weak national economies make farmers very conservative about spending. In China, government subsidies continue to support equipment purchases—but don't look to rise enough to increase demand, and in India, the tractor market, according to the company, remains soft.

I like Deere for the long run as one of the best stock plays for growing global demand for food. (That's why the stock is a member of my Jubak Picks 50 long-term portfolio.) But even great long-term picks, backed by long term upward trends, experience cycles of rising and falling demand. The stock's chart shows a negative cross in early July. (That's where the 50-day moving average falls below the 200-day moving average and it's often a sign of a further decline ahead.) At the current price, Deere has dropped just below the 50-day moving average at $83.60.

In other words, by waiting for the lower guidance for the fourth quarter to seep out further into the market consciousness, you might get Deere at a lower price. Deere has repeatedly bounced off $80-$82 over the last year. But if you're willing to hold out for a bargain, the price to watch would be the $73-$75 range the stock hit in late August-early September, 2012.

Full disclosure: I don't own shares of any of the companies mentioned in this post in my personal portfolio. When in 2010 I started the mutual fund I manage, Jubak Global Equity Fund, I liquidated all my individual stock holdings and put the money into the fund. The fund may or may not now own positions in any stock mentioned in this post. The fund did not own shares of Deere as of the end of June. For a full list of the stocks in the fund as of the end of June see the fund's portfolio at here.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Lawsuit claims Brent crude prices rigged: report

5 Best Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A handful of the world's biggest oil companies plotted with Morgan Stanley (MS) and energy traders to manipulate Brent crude spot prices for more than a decade, four veteran traders allege in a class-action suit filed in a federal court last month, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The lawsuit alleges that oil companies, including BP PLC (UK:BP) (BP) , Statoil ASA (NO:STL) (STO) and Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA) (UK:RDSB) (RDS.A) conspired with Morgan Stanley and energy traders including Vitol Group, Trafigura Beheer BV and Phibro Trading LLC to artificially drive up or down the Dated Brent spot price by submitting false information to Platts, an energy news and price publisher, the report said. Phibro told Bloomberg that it hadn't been served in the lawsuit and said the claims were without merit. Bloomberg said that representatives of Shell, Vitol, Trafigura, Morgan Stanley and BP declined to comment on the suit.

Monday, December 23, 2013

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Popular Posts: The Top 10 S&P 500 Dividend Stocks for December3 Easy Ways to Find the Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Now4 Best Medical Marijuana Stocks to Buy Now Recent Posts: Penny Stocks – 3 Top Penny Stocks of 2013 Volcker Rule – Banks’ Days of Crazy Profit Growth Are OVER Mergers and Acquisitions — The 10 Biggest Deals of 2013 View All Posts

Penny stocks are bad news. You could call them the scratch-off lottery tickets of the stock market, but that would be an insult to lottery tickets.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund Inc.(ECF)

Ellsworth Fund Ltd. is a close ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Davis-Dinsmore Management Company. It invests in equity markets of the United States. The fund primarily in convertible securities. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Merrill Lynch All Convertibles Index, the S&P 500 Index and the Lehman Aggregate Bond Total Return Index. The was formerly known as Ellsworth Convertible Growth and Income Fund, Inc. Ellsworth Fund Ltd. was formed on April 30, 1986 and is domiciled in the United States.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: CIFC Deerfield Corp.(DFR)

Deerfield Capital Corp. (DFR) operates as a real estate investment trust. The firm invests in real estate-related securities, commercial mortgage backed securities, bank loans, leveraged finance securities and alternative assets. It primarily provides junior debt including second lien and mezzanine and one-stop debt financings, with a limited appetite for preferred stock and non-control common equity investments. The firm invests in growth, change of control transactions, strategic acquisitions, and recapitalizations. It typically invests between $10 million to $40 million in companies with minimum annual EBITDA of $5 million with a focus on North America. The firm also invests in Western Europe. For mortgage investing, it invests in Agency and AAA-rated non-Agency loans with target duration of one year or less. For direct real estate lending, it provides mezzanine financing, platform investment, and institutional investment, For mezzanine investing, it invests in property types including office, retail, multi-family, industrial, hospitality, senior housing, and land of United States. For platform investments, it provides capital to financial companies and real estate sponsors on a platform basis through first loss financing on warehouse lines; Equity Bridge lines with a transaction size between $20 million and $90million with multiple assets as collateral. For institutional investment, the firm invests in first and second lien debt, B notes, and mezzanine offerings arranged by investment and commercial banks to real estate related companies and project finance secured by real estate. It was formerly known as Deerfield Triarc Capital Corp. Deerfield Capital Corp was founded in 2004 and is based in New York, New York.

Hot Blue Chip Companies To Own In Right Now: Service Corporation International(SCI)

Service Corporation International provides deathcare products and services in the United States, Canada, and Germany. Its funeral service and cemetery operations consist of funeral service locations, cemeteries, funeral service/cemetery combination locations, crematoria, and related businesses. The company provides various professional services relating to funerals and cremations, including the use of funeral facilities and motor vehicles, and preparation and embalming services. It also sells funeral related merchandise, including caskets, burial vaults, cremation receptacles, cremation memorial products, flowers, and other ancillary products and services at funeral service locations. The company?s cemeteries provide cemetery property interment rights, including mausoleum spaces, lots, and lawn crypts; and sell cemetery related merchandise and services comprising stone and bronze memorials, markers, merchandise installations, and burial openings and closings. It also sells preneed funeral and cemetery products and services whereby a customer contractually agrees to the terms of certain products and services to be delivered and performed in the future. As of December 31, 2009, Service Corporation operated 1,254 funeral service locations and 372 cemeteries, including 208 combination locations, covering 43 states in the United States, 8 Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as 12 funeral homes in Germany. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
Although actual tallies were not disclosed, the Teamsters local representing funeral directors and drivers of Service Corp. International (NYSE: SCI ) in the Chicagoland area says members voted in overwhelming numbers against the death care leader's "last, best, and final" contract offer and in favor of a strike to be effective this morning.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: RCM Technologies Inc.(RCMT)

RCM Technologies, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, and delivery of business and technology solutions for commercial and government sectors in North America. It operates through three segments: Information Technology (IT), Engineering, and Commercial Services. The IT segment provides enterprise business solutions, application services, infrastructure solutions, competitive advantage and productivity solutions, and life sciences solutions. The Engineering segment offers engineering and design, engineering analysis, engineer-procure-construct, configuration management, hardware/software validation and verification, quality assurance, technical writing and publications, manufacturing process planning and improvement, reliability centered maintenance, component and equipment testing, and risk management engineering services. The Commercial Services segment provides long-term and short-term staffing, executive search, and placement servic es in various fields, including rehabilitation, nursing, managed care, allied health care, health care management, and medical office support, as well as offers in-patient, outpatient, sub-acute and acute care, multilingual speech pathology, rehabilitation, geriatric, pediatric, and adult day care services to hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools, sports medicine facilities, and private practices. This segment also offers contract and temporary services, and permanent placement services for full-time and part-time personnel in various functional areas, including office, clerical, data entry, secretarial, light industrial, shipping, receiving, and general warehousing. The company offers its services to aerospace/defense, energy, financial services, life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, public sector, and technology industries. RCM Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1971 and is based in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By CRWE]
RCM Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:RCMT) reported that primarily due to unexpected and extended client procedural delays in awarding certain engagements under an existing contract with a major North American utility, the Company’s second quarter revenues and operating income will fall short of its expectations.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.(ACTC)

Advanced Cell Technology, Inc., a biotechnology company, focuses on the development and commercialization of human embryonic and adult stem cell technology in the field of regenerative medicine. Its embryonic stem cell research programs include cellular reprogramming, reduced complexity program, and stem cell differentiation research programs. The company?s cellular reprogramming involves in the development of therapies based on the use of genetically identical pluripotent stem cells generated by its cellular reprogramming technologies. Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. also generates stable cell lines with particular focus on blood lineage and vascular epithelial cell lines from hemangioblast cells. In addition, it is developing an autologous myoblast transplantation therapy to restore cardiac function in patients with advanced heart disease. The company?s stem cell-based therapy would provide treatment for a range of acute and chronic degenerative diseases. Further, it deve lops adult stem cell-based products that are specifically targeted at therapies for heart and other cardiovascular diseases. The company is headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
Summer and the slow news for the market that usually comes with it�is over with and both stem cell researchers or small� cap stem cell stocks like Advanced Cell Technology, Inc (OTCBB: ACTC), Neuralstem, Inc (NYSEMKT: CUR), NeoStem Inc (NASDAQ: NBS), International Stem Cell Corp (OTCMKTS: ISCO)�and BioRestorative Therapies (OTCBB: BRTX) having news for investors and traders alike. Consider the following:

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Atwood Oceanics Inc. (ATW)

Atwood Oceanics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in offshore drilling, and the completion of exploratory and developmental oil and gas wells. The company owns semisubmersible rigs, semisubmersible tender assist rigs, jack-up drilling rigs, and submersible drilling rigs. As of November 22, 2010, it operated nine mobile offshore drilling units located in offshore southeast Asia, offshore Africa, offshore Australia, offshore South America, and the Mediterranean Sea. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Marc Courtenay]
That's said, I'd also consider Atwood Oceanics (ATW) an even more irresistible acquisition bulls-eye. This Houston, Texas firm is an offshore drilling contractor that engages in the drilling and completion of exploratory and developmental oil and gas wells.
[By Alex Planes]
Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.
[By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: UMH Properties Inc.(UMH)

UMH Properties, Inc. (UMH) is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities. It leases manufactured home spaces to private manufactured home owners, as well as leases homes to residents. The firm invests in the real estate markets of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Tennessee. In addition, it invests in debt and equity securities of REITs. United Mobile Homes was incorporated in 1968. The company was formerly known as United Mobile Homes, Inc. UMH Properties is based in Freehold, New Jersey.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: United Bancshares Inc.(UBOH)

United Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for The Union Bank Company that engages in the provision of commercial banking services to small and middle-market businesses and individuals. It accepts various deposit products, including checking accounts, savings and money market accounts, time certificates of deposit, time deposits, and demand deposits. The company also offers various loan products that consist of commercial, consumer, agricultural, residential mortgage, and home equity loans. In addition, it provides automatic teller machine services, safe deposit box rentals, and other personalized banking services. The company serves primarily in the Ohio counties of Allen, Hancock, Putnam, Sandusky, Van Wert, and Wood, as well as with office locations in Bowling Green, Columbus Grove, Delphos, Findlay, Gibsonburg, Kalida, Leipsic, Lima, Ottawa, and Pemberville, Ohio. United Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1904 and is headquartered in Columbus Grove, Ohio.< /p>

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Syms Corp(SYMS)

Syms Corp operates a chain of ?off-price? apparel retail stores under the Syms and Filene?s Basement names in the United States. Its stores offer a range of in-season merchandise for men, women, and children. The company?s in-season merchandise includes men?s tailored clothing and haberdashery; women?s dresses, suits, and separates; children?s apparel; and men?s, women?s, and children?s shoes. Its Filene?s stores also offer a selection of jewelry and home goods. As of August 28, 2010, the company operated a chain of 48 off-price apparel stores located predominantly on the east coast. Syms Corp was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.

10 Best Penny Stocks To Invest In Right Now: LJ International Inc.(JADE)

LJ International Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sale of precious and color gemstones, and diamond jewelry. The company offers colored jewelry; and pieces set in yellow gold, white gold, or sterling silver, as well as adorned with colored stones, diamonds, pearls, and precious stones. Its product line includes earrings, necklaces, pendants, rings, and bracelets. The company distributes its products to fine jewelers, national jewelry chains, department stores, TV shopping channels, discount chain stores, and electronic and specialty retailers in North America and Western Europe. It also involves in the retail of jewelry products under the ENZO brand. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 133 ENZO stores in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. In addition, it owns commercial and residential properties in Hong Kong, which are held primarily for lease. The company was founded in 1987 and is based in Hung Hom, Hong Kong.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Finally, Microsoft Releases Office for iPhone -- Sort Of

This has been a long time coming, but Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT ) has finally given in and released Office for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL ) iPhone, sort of. A premature leak from Microsoft's Czech Republic subsidiary late last year suggested that Office would come to iOS by March 2013, a claim that Microsoft officially denied. Looks like it wasn't so far off.

Before mobile workers get too excited, though, this Office Mobile for iPhone is only available for subscribers of Office 365, Microsoft's cloud-based version of its flagship productivity suite. For those subscribers, Office Mobile for iPhone is entirely free.

The move is important since Microsoft is well aware of how strong its position is in productivity software. Office is the standard, hands down. That's precisely why the company has been using Office as a strategic weapon in the mobile war, historically withholding it from Apple's platform.

For instance, Microsoft's recent ad campaign against the iPad specifically calls out the lack of Office, an absence that only Microsoft has the power to fill. To that end, Microsoft has also set up a site comparing various specs of the iPad to other leading Windows 8 tablets -- and running Microsoft Office is one of the key categories. The only consumer Office app available on the iPad is OneNote. The new Office Mobile doesn't support the iPad, so Microsoft can continue with that campaign.

Office Mobile for iPhone. Source: Apple.

iOS users have been wanting Office for years, and Microsoft is partially delivering, but in a way that reinforces its push toward a subscription model. Opening up Office to iOS could be seen as a risk to Microsoft, since it removes a possible competitive advantage. This risk is small, though, as Microsoft is keeping it limited to Office 365 subscribers and excluding the iPad. The subset of mobile workers that actually try to get things done on their smartphones is undoubtedly quite small. Adding iPad support would have been a much bigger risk.

Apple already offers its iWork suite for iOS, which supports Office file formats. The Mac maker also reinvigorated its mobile productivity push by detailing iWork for iCloud this week, but no one has illusions of Apple making a dent in the enterprise market.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG ) is a much bigger threat to mobile Office than Apple. Not only has Google now partnered with Hewlett-Packard to resell its Google Apps for Business to small and medium businesses, but also Google acquired Quickoffice a year ago, one of the most popular mobile alternatives to Office that was exclusive to iOS at the time. The search giant just released Quickoffice for Android in April. Google is also working to put Quickoffice into a browser, putting even more heat on web-based Office.

The extent of Microsoft's support for Office on Android is that Office Web Apps can be used from Chrome on Android. You can't help but wonder if the company also has a native Android app in the works for Office 365 subscribers. Releasing Office Mobile for iPhone will give Microsoft a chance to defend its Office user base from iWork and Quickoffice, while nudging people in the general direction of paying $10 per month.

It's been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who've watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. In a new premium report on Microsoft, a Motley Fool analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, so are the challenges. The report includes regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Starbucks to Triple Products for GMCR's Keurig

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR ) have agreed to expand their current manufacturing, marketing, sale, and distribution partnership relating to Starbucks- and Tazo-branded single-serve packs (K-Cups) worldwide. The K-Cups will be for use in GMCR's Keurig single-serve brewing systems. Shares of GMCR soared after it posted blowout earnings and announced the expanded K-Cup distribution deal with Starbucks yesterday. Within the new, minimum five-year deal, Starbucks will triple the number of Starbucks products on the Keurig platform. In addition to the current Starbucks K-Cup and Vue pack portfolio, GMCR will handle Starbucks brands like Seattle's Best, Torrefazione Italia coffee, Teavana Teas, and Starbucks Cocoa. Since Starbucks and GMCR first partnered in March 2011, Starbucks has shipped more than 850 million Starbucks coffee K-Cup packs. Comparing March 2013 sales to the previous year, the company says Starbucks K-Cups sales have increased more than 75%. Additionally, last month Information Resources -- a market research company focused on the consumer packaged goods and retail industries -- said Starbucks K-Cup packs were one of the top 10 launches of 2012. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz noted the move to expand Starbucks K-Cup and Vue products beyond North America and market them globally. He was quoted as saying that sales in the premium single-cup category outpaced the growth of the overall coffee market by 9 times last year and that the segment accounts for more than 25% of total grocery-coffee sales. He said the agreement is a "win-win-win" for both companies and coffee drinkers. Financial details were not disclosed.

Top Growth Companies For 2014

link

Friday, December 20, 2013

Avenue Capital's Marc Lasry Sees Opportunities in Europe - Stocks in Southern Europe, Bonds in the North

Top Casino Stocks To Own Right Now

Avenue Capital's Marc Lasry thinks 2014 looks pretty good.

He is especially bullish on Europe where things are getting better.

Lasry thinks there are some huge returns for those willing to provide capital in Europe while the banks continue to deleverage.

On the equity side Lasry would focus on countries in southern Europe.

About the author:

Canadian Value

http://valueinvestorcanada.blogspot.com/

Currently 2.00/512345

Rating: 2.0/5 (1 vote)

Subscribe via Email RSS Feeds

Subscribe RSS Comments Please leave your comment:
More GuruFocus Links

Latest Guru Picks	Value Strategies
Warren Buffett Portfolio	Ben Graham Net-Net
Real Time Picks	Buffett-Munger Screener
Aggregated Portfolio	Undervalued Predictable
ETFs, Options	Low P/S Companies
Insider Trends	10-Year Financials
52-Week Lows	Interactive Charts
Model Portfolios	DCF Calculator
RSS Feed	Monthly Newsletters
The All-In-One Screener	Portfolio Tracking Tool

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Is The Best Buy Stock Run Over?

The shares of Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) are up almost 250% this year. The company’s management has staged a turnaround, at least partially. But the progress is not great enough for Best Buy to have its current market capitalization of $14 billion. After all, its earnings from continuing operations last quarter were only $44 million. Even if that number soars, it likely will not be enough to justify the $14 billion valuation.

The theory behind the increased value of Best Buy is that its revenue is no longer shrinking, and it may recover this holiday season. In its most recently reported quarter, Best Buy had revenue of $9.4 billion, about flat with last year’s same quarter. Same-store sales for the period rose only 0.3%. The number only looks good because in the year-ago quarter same-store sales were off 5.1%.

Part of the enthusiasm about Best Buy is the strategic plan of new CEO Hubert Joly: drop prices below the competition and offer better in-store services. The problem with the first part of the program is that the move is likely to lower margins. The problem with the second is that consumers are used to shopping for consumer electronics at Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), where there is no service. The lack of service at Amazon is replaced by the convenience of shopping from home and the ability to browse a seemingly infinite number of consumer electronics products across a nearly limitless number of prices. A physical store has no means to match that.

So, the new wisdom about the high valuation of Best Buy is that it has beaten, or at least matched, Amazon in the prices and service aspects of consumer electronic sales. Yet, there is scant evidence of that. It will not be until holiday sales numbers are turned in by the two companies that Best Buy can be considered a winner, even on the most modest level. And “modest” is the problem. Even a small improvement in Best Buy’s revenue says nothing other than Amazon is not trampling it with quite the same force as a year or two ago. That does not mean the beating ever entirely ended.

Best Buy’s turnaround is nothing more than marching in place, which is not enough to cement a better future.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Survey: Virgin America, Air Canada have healthy…

The calorie count is coming down in those in-flight snack boxes and meals, but when it comes to nutrition, U.S. airlines still have a ways to go.

So says an annual survey ranking airlines according to how healthy their food offerings are in coach on domestic flights.

Among the dozen carriers surveyed, the average calorie count per food item dropped from 388 calories last year to 360 calories in 2013, says Charles Platkin, the survey's author and editor of DietDetective.com and professor at Hunter College and City University of New York School of Public Health.

"It's an improvement,'' Platkin said, noting that the calorie drop appears to be largely due to smaller portions. "But it's not enough to move the needle in terms of nutrition and overall health.''

Virgin America and Air Canada were tops among the carriers surveyed when it came to healthy eats. Platkin praised Virgin's "travel light'' menu, and the nutritional information passengers can easily access. The roasted pear and arugula salad with almonds, for instance, contained only 310 calories.

"We're thrilled to have been ranked as having the most healthy food offering among U.S. airlines — once again," said Virgin America spokeswoman Patricia Condon. "Our guests tell us regularly that they want lighter options, and as the only airline headquartered in California, we take a lot of pride in offering a menu that features not only the best quality ingredients, but that also offers healthy options to busy travelers on the go."

Allegiant Air meanwhile, was at the bottom. While it offered a "hummus snack pack'' of only 210 calories, its "deli snack pack,'' which included salami slices and SnackWell's creme sandwich cookies, totaled 523 calories, and would require nearly two hours of walking to burn off, Platkin says.

The large network carriers fell in the middle of the five-star rankings, with United earning 3¼ stars, American and US Airways earning three stars, and Delta drawing 2¾ stars.

"The airline! s that are doing well are getting better,'' Platkin says, "but there hasn't been much improvement with the lower tier airlines in terms of health."

The survey, based on querying the airlines and examining their menus, looks at various criteria, including calorie counts, healthy meal offerings and nutritional improvements compared with the previous year.

Not only would more nutritious options be better for passengers, Platkin says, but airlines might also find that offering more wholesome food boosts their bottom line. Currently, Platkin found, airline meals for sale range from roughly $6 to $10, while the snack boxes cost roughly $4 to $9.

"The better-for-you health category is exploding,'' he says, and airlines "haven't recognized this could be a huge profit center for them.''

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now

The New York Times called it a "moment of reckoning." Widely followed commodities trader Dennis Gartman in a note to his clients wrote that he's "never...ever...EVER" seen anything quite like it.

The references, of course, are to March 15's collapse in the price of gold, the largest single-day percentage drop in 30 years, capping a two-day decline of 13%.

The selling was triggered in part by worries that Cyprus and possibly other European nations might have to dump their gold holdings to raise funds or satisfy bailout requirements. Also, after acting as a commodities tailwind for much of the past two years, the Fed's quantitative easing program looks to be winding down, which would relax inflationary pressure.

Suddenly, the "safest" investment no longer seemed so safe. In fact, there's a good chance that gold's 12-year streak of uninterrupted gains will come to an end this year.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

Fluor Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide. Its Oil & Gas segment offers design, engineering, procurement, construction, and project management services to upstream oil and gas production, downstream refining, chemicals, and petrochemicals industries. This segment also provides consulting services comprising feasibility studies, process assessment, and project finance structuring and studies. The company?s Industrial & Infrastructure segment offers design, engineering, procurement, and construction services to the transportation, wind power, mining and metals, life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics, and healthcare sectors. Its Government segment provides engineering, construction, logistics support, contingency response, management, and operations services to the United States government focusing on the Departme nt of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. The company?s Global Services segment offers operations and maintenance, small capital project engineering and execution, site equipment and tool services, industrial fleet services, plant turnaround services, temporary staffing services, and supply chain solutions. Its Power segment provides engineering, procurement, construction, program management, start-up and commissioning, and operations and maintenance services to the gas fueled, solid fueled, plant betterment, renewables, nuclear, and power services markets. The company also offers unionized management and construction services in the United States and Canada. Fluor Corporation was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
South America has become an unsettled region to mine in. Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM ) had its Peruvian Conga project brought to a short stop over environmental concerns, while Vale (NYSE: VALE ) recently abandoned an Argentinean project because of the country's policies.�Costs for Pascua-Lama have ballooned over the past decade and now stand at about $8.5 billion, putting it at risk of becoming an albatross around the miner's neck even before the court decision. Barrick even resorted to bringing in engineering specialist Fluor (NYSE: FLR ) to expand the scope of its project management before the court order.
[By Louis Navellier]
Fluor Corporation (FLR) is one of the world�� leading heavy construction and engineering firms. I don’t want to imply that this is a bad company because it is actually a very good one. However, Fluor has divisions including Oil & Gas, Industrial Infrastructure, Government, Global Services and Power. Virtually all of them are seeing limited spending as a result of the global slowdown and reduced government spending around the world. The stock is up more than 23% this year, but earnings are actually down on flat revenues. Analysts have been lowering their estimates for the rest of this year as well as 2014, and the stock is currently rated as a by Portfolio Grader. When the economy recovers, I expect will see this company’s fundamentals improve substantially … but until that happens investors should avoid the stock.
[By Louis Navellier]
If we look at the sector using Portfolio Grader, we see that many of the big names in the group like Flour (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA) and KBR incorporated (KBR) are rated ��ell.��The anticipated spending for both government and private industry simply hasn�� materialized, and the companies are not seeing revenue or profit growth.
[By CRWE]
Fluor Corporation�� (NYSE:FLR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Seaton, and Chief Financial Officer, Biggs Porter, will give a presentation to investors at the Credit Suisse 2012 Engineering & Construction Conference in New York on Thursday, June 7 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory, including advisory assignments with respect to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, restructurings, and spin-offs; and underwriting securities, loans and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company?s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution activities, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as commissions and fees from executing and clearing institutional client transactions on stock, options, and fu tures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other prime brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, and power generation facilities. This segment also involves in the origination of loans to provide financing to clients. The company?s Investment Management segment provides investment management services and investment products to institutional and individual clients. This segment also offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services to high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, it provides global investment research services. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Hot Undervalued Companies To Own For 2014: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

Under Armour, Inc. develops, markets, and distributes performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth primarily in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It offers products made from moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics designed to regulate body temperature and enhance performance regardless of weather conditions. The company provides its products in three fit types: compression (tight fitting), fitted (athletic cut), and loose (relaxed) extending across the sporting goods, outdoor, and active lifestyle markets. Its footwear offerings comprise football, baseball, lacrosse, softball, and soccer cleats; slides; performance training footwear; and running footwear. The company also provides baseball batting, football, golf, and running gloves, as well as licenses bags, socks, headwear, custom-molded mouth guards, and eyewear that are designed to be used and worn before, during, and after competition. Under Armour sells its products through retai l stores, as well as directly to consumers through its own retail outlets and specialty stores, Website, and catalogs. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Daniel Sparks]
Competition
Though Nike does boast impressive gross margins compared to its footwear competitors, three of them, Adidas, Puma, and Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) , are large enough to cause some disruption in some of Nike's markets.
[By Monica Gerson]
Under Armour (NYSE: UA) is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.66 per share on revenue of $710.18 million.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (NYSE: RS) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.20 per share on revenue of $2.54 billion.
[By Robert Eberhard]
I like to think that I've shifted my mentality a bit over the past 18 months. I feel more like an investor than ever before, and plan on holding onto many of my investments for a long time. Once I make an investment decision, I try to avoid thinking about other opportunities that I let slip away. Alas, I am human, and my choice of Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) last year over a group of other qualified candidates has had me thinking recently about the way I make investment decisions. Instead of dwelling on the missed gains, however, I decided to learn from the decision and adjust my thinking going forward.
[By Sam Cicotello]
Cole Campell is a freshman at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. He recently spent a day with us at Fool HQ learning more about the stock market. He chose to focus on Under Armour (NYSE: UA ) for the day and discussed it with our analysts and editors. Here he shares his unique perspective as a young investor watching an upstart company challenge an older, dominant brand.

Best Safest Stocks To Buy Right Now: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. primarily engages in oil and natural gas exploration and production, refining, trade, and transportation businesses. The company?s Exploration and Production segment involves in the exploration, production, development, and production of oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas in Brazil. This segment supplies its products to the refineries in Brazil, as well as sells surplus petroleum and byproducts in domestic and foreign markets. Its Supply segment engages in the refining, logistics, transportation, and trade of oil and oil products; export of ethanol; and extraction and processing of schist, as well as holds interests in companies of the petrochemical sector in Brazil. The Gas and Energy segment involves in the transportation and trade of natural gas produced in or imported into Brazil; transportation and trade of LNG; and generation and trade of electric power. In addition, the segment has interests in natural gas transportation and d istribution companies; and thermoelectric power stations in Brazil, as well engages in fertilizer business. The Distribution segment distributes oil products, ethanol, and compressed natural gas in Brazil. The International segment involves in the exploration and production of oil and gas, as well as in supplying, gas and energy, and distribution operations in the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Further, the company involves in biofuel production business. Petroleo Brasileiro was founded in 1953 and is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Matt DiLallo]
That makes Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) one of the best pure-play stocks to buy if you want to invest in the growth of oil production. The company is investing heavily to explore and develop these massive oil fields with a goal to produce 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2016. But it's not the only company operating offshore: Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL ) is another potential stock play here. One of the interesting things it's doing is looking at spinning off part its Brazilian business. This will help the company navigate the country's regulations while retaining upside as offshore oil production grows. It will also help the company to continue producing income to keep its top-tier dividend flowing back to investors.�
[By Tyler Crowe]
While there are some disadvantages to being a national oil company, there are also some pretty cushy perks as well. Thanks to its position in Brazil, Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) just got some big relief as a court ruling determined that it is not obligated to pay an outstanding tax bill of $3.45 billion. This should be a huge help as the company looks to make big gains in production in the upcoming years thanks to the pre-salt formation in offshore Brazil.
[By Tyler Crowe]
And the winner is ...
It all depends on your definition of "winning: to determine who came out on top of this auction. If your definition is most blocks won, then Petrobras (NYSE: PBR ) �took that prize running away. The company spent $268 million for rights on 35 blocks. The next closest in terms of bids won was OGX, which secured 13 blocks in the entire auction. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that Petrobras was the most active in this auction. Not only is Petrobras Brazil's largest oil company, but it also just recently completed an $11 billion bond issuance, the largest corporate bond sale from an emerging market ever. Some of that money was probably pre-planned for both this auction and the next Brazilian auction to happen in October. This move will further secure Petrobras' position as the largest oil producer in the country.�
[By vaninaegea]
I find the analysis and comparison between companies with base in different geographies an entertaining exercise that offers a singular perspective upon future prospects. In other words, business activities are approached from diverse angles according to social, political, and economical background. Hence, Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR) and PetroChina (PTR) do compete in the same segments, but results are separated by a gamut of particularities.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Here's What Saved Blackstone's Once-Faltering Hilton Deal

Six years after taking Hilton private in a $26 billion deal, Blackstone is ready for its IPO payoff.

The New York firm is said to have sold some 117 million shares at $20 a pop raising about $2.34 billion. Tomorrow's IPO is expected to be the biggest for a hotel.

The public will get a chance to purchase shares tomorrow when they're listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker HLT.

It seems Blackstone, which bought Hilton in 2007 for $26 billion including some $7 billion in debt, had little trouble gaining interest from investors. The offering was reportedly 10x oversubscribed.

Top 10 Insurance Stocks To Buy Right Now

Still, Blackstone is playing the pricing game somewhat conservatively with its $20 shares. The expected price range was $18 to $21 per share.

Why didn't Blackstone up the price and raise more money out of the box?

Well, for one thing, Blackstone is going to hold shares of Hilton for years.

That makes sense as the hotel industry is poised for more growth.

The industry's most important metric, RevPAR (revenue per available room), has been on the rise for the last three to four years, and there's more growth to come.

Right now, hotel supply levels are at historic lows. The long term average for annual hotel room supply is around 2%, but in 2011 the supply increased just .5%, and in 2012 supply fell again to .2%.

If the economy picks up steam, construction of new hotels will pick up with it.

Hilton will be among those contributing to the industry's growth. Since Blackstone purchased it Hilton has increased the number of open rooms by 34%, or 170,000 rooms, the highest rate of any major hotel company. There are more rooms on the way as the development pipeline has jumped by 52% to an industry-leading 176,000 rooms, Blackstone says in its filing.

Hilton's revenue for the first six months of the year rose 2.7% to $4.64 billion from a year earlier, while profit jumped 66% to $189 million.

But Hilton's success under Blackstone was a long shot early on. The deal nearly cost head of its real estate unit, Jonathan Gray, his job.

Gray, who has led nearly all of the firm's hotel deals over the last 15 years, was behind the $26 billion Hilton purchase. The deal was made just before downturn hit hard, and real estate prices dropped as well as consumer travel.

The saving grace for Gray's giant investment? The debt had no covenants. Had it not been for the favorable finance structuring Hilton would likely have been seize by lenders, and Gray would have been out of a job.

Instead, he's one of the firm biggest stars, and tomorrow's Hilton IPO will only confirm his reign as king of real estate at Blackstone.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Asia stocks mostly lower with Fed in focus

Asian markets moved lower on Thursday, as fears that the U.S. Federal Reserve could soon start to cut its bond-buying program weighed further on regional sentiment, though Hong Kong's largest listing in 2013 started trading with a pop.

China Cinda Asset Management (HK:1359) , Hong Kong's largest initial public offering this year, surged 31.8% on its debut. The financial firm, which processes Chinese bad debt from Chinese banks and converts it into equity stakes, raised $2.5 billion in an IPO that priced at the top of its price range.

A number of other companies started trading in Hong Kong. Among them was Qinhuangdao Port Co. (HK:3369) , which raised $561 million after pricing its IPO at the low end of its range. Shares in China's largest coal-port operator by capacity dropped 7.8% when they started trading.

Chinese pharmaceutical retailer Jintian Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. (HK:2211) , which raised $189 million in an IPO after pricing its deal at the low end of the price range, fell 13.8% on its first day of trading.

Reuters

Enlarge Image

The Hong Kong stock market moved lower, with the Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) down 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) also fell 0.5%.

More broadly, overnight trading on Wall Street gave Asia a negative lead, as U.S. stocks fell sharply after a bipartisan budget deal from Congress raised expectations that the Fed could start to scale back its stimulus measures as early as next week.

The forthcoming Fed policy meeting, set to end Dec. 18, has weighed on market sentiment in Asia in recent sessions — especially after the U.S. posted another strong monthly labor report on Friday. Speculation over when the central bank will pare its easy-money policies has been a constant theme in Asia for much of the year and has triggered a number of selloffs during the summer.

The dollar lost 0.4% against the yen (USDJPY) overnight, though it made a recovery on Thursday, trading at ¥102.56, compared with ¥102.45 late Wednesday in New York. Earlier this week, the dollar was close to reaching a fresh multiyear high against its Japanese counterpart.

The weaker yen was a catalyst for strong gains in Japanese stocks in November, but as the dollar lost its upward momentum, the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) pulled back. On Thursday, the Japanese benchmark was down 1.5%.

Click to Play

Who controls the North Pole?

With sea ice receding around the polar ice cap, various countries are now jockeying to control a potential goldmine of natural resources that are becoming more extractable. But just who controls the North Pole? Image: Associated Press

South Korea's Kospi (KR:SEU) fell 0.6%.

Stock trading in Sydney remained depressed, with the S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) down 1.2%, after Australia's unemployment rate rose in November to 5.8%, moving closer to a post-financial crisis high.

The market has been weighed by a flood of IPOs hitting the market before Christmas, as well as a surprise profit warning earlier in the week from QBE Insurance Group Ltd. (AU:QBE) (QBEIF) that hit broader market sentiment. The insurer lost another 5.7% on Thursday, bringing its total weekly loss to 32.8%.

More MarketWatch news

Fischer close to becoming No. 2 at Fed: reports

Here's what you'll save by ditching cable TV

Champion forecaster says economy better than GDP shows

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Insurance agents feel left out of Obamacare

MIAMI (AP) — When insurance agent Kelly Fristoe recently spent 30 minutes helping a client pick a mid-level health plan and the federal marketplace website froze, he called the government's hotline and tried to finish the application. But the operator refused to credit Fristoe as an agent on the application, meaning he wouldn't get the commission or be listed as the follow-up contact if his client needed help again later.

The Wichita Falls, Texas, insurance agent is one of many brokers around the country finding frustration as they try to help customers navigate the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces while earning the commissions they've long built their businesses around. Some insurers and insurance agents are calling on President Obama's administration to allow them to bypass healthcare.gov and enroll consumers directly amid growing complaints about problems with enrollment information generated from the website.

The so-called 'back-end' problems could mean that consumers who think they've successfully signed up for a health plan, may find themselves unable to access their coverage come January. The problems include enrollment information that's rendered practically useless by errors, duplication or garbles. Efforts to fix the issues are underway.

Nearly 70,000 agents and brokers have been certified nationwide to sell health insurance on the federal exchange. Many say they could be the troubled health law's best ambassadors with the potential to boost lackluster enrollment figures — only about 27,000 had enrolled via the federal website nationwide in the first month. But instead, many agents said they're continually met by obstacles.

"You look at this dismal number they have of how many people have enrolled on healthcare.gov," said Fristoe. "If they would just relax and loosen up, because me and all of my associates across this nation want to help these consumers get enrolled into the market."

Government pledges to fix healthcare.gov

Federal health officials anno! unced on Nov. 22 that they'd fixed some portions of the website to allow more insurers and insurance agents to enroll consumers directly. The feds are asking roughly 16 insurers, agents and brokers in Florida, Texas and Ohio to test it out and give detailed feedback about the fixes, hoping to expand it to other states in the coming weeks. Health officials have been vague about the scope of the botched applications insurers are receiving and what steps they're taking to fix the problems. One bug related to Social Security numbers, which federal health officials said accounted for more than 80 percent of insurers' problems, was fixed last weekend.

But the problems have persisted, prompting the head of the National Association of Health Underwriters to write the president Tuesday, urging him to make additional fixes a priority, saying agents have a significant backlog of clients with incomplete applications.

"We want to make it clear that a number of back-end technical obstacles still exist for health insurance agents and brokers trying to actively support the federal marketplace," said CEO Janet Trautwein.

Insurance industry executives also met with Obama last month and encouraged him to let them take a more active role in enrolling consumers in the 36 states relying on the federal website. Brokers' frustrations with the website are amplified by the pressure they face to add customers to offset reductions in their commissions under the law.

Among the complaints, agents say the website isn't always crediting brokers when they help enroll consumers — meaning they're losing out on commissions. Once an application is started, consumers can't go back in and add a broker's name if they help midway through the process. Federal health officials said there are 975,000 customers who have started an application but not selected a plan.

Insurance agents waiting on website's features

Agents say they're also still waiting on the federal government to add a promised feature on the w! ebsite th! at would easily connect consumers with local insurance brokers.

Insurers and insurance agents are allowed to sign consumers up for health plans through a "direct enrollment" process. Even though the process may start on the insurer's website, at some point it's redirected to the technology-plagued healthcare.gov website to determine if customers are eligible for subsidies, and then ideally transferred back to the insurer's site. But various points in the process have been mired in glitches. Federal health officials said they've fixed some of the problems, but skeptics fear the improvements still won't allow for a smooth shopping experience and are pushing for a way to bypass the website.

Top Stocks To Buy For 2014

Brokers face similar problems in some of the states that are running their own exchanges, such as Oregon. It's easy for insurers to enroll customers who want a health plan and don't qualify for a subsidy. The trouble comes when insurers and agents need to sync to federal data hubs to verify income, citizenship and other personal information. Democratic Florida state Rep. Richard Stark, who is also an insurance agent, said many of his clients have received inaccurate subsidy estimates from the federal government for clients. For example, a client with twin children was told one is eligible for a subsidy, but not the other.

Insurance agents getting creative

Like others stymied by website malfunctions, Ken Statz and other agents at his firm in Brecksville, Ohio, filled out paper applications and mailed them, but it was taking time to hear back from the federal government about whether clients are eligible for a subsidy. Then they tried to get creative, planning to fill out the applications with clients during the day and hire someone to input the information into healthcare.gov during off-hours after 11 p.m. But that didn't work either because the site asks personal identification questions that only the user would know.

"W! e don't h! ave a clear pathway to get them enrolled into the plan. (The federal government) hasn't given us the ability to do that. They're kind of missing the mark on this. They need to realize that we are the best pathway," he said.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, recently sent a letter to federal health officials urging them to fix the barriers hampering brokers and possibly create a way to bypass the healthcare.gov site. She suggested a dedicated call-center line or mailing locations for paper applications.

Stark has noticed a chilly reception toward his industry when he's attended local outreach organizations on the health overhaul.

"They basically didn't want to work with insurance agents because they felt agents were going to steer a customer toward (a plan) where they think they will make the most money," said Stark. "If I steer someone incorrectly to a plan that doesn't meet their needs, there's a lot of hell to pay as an agent."

Navigators will likely be gone when enrollment ends in March. That's why Statz said it's important for federal health officials to empower agents to "help people now, but help them make decisions on their accounts moving forward."

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Wolff: London, NYC mayors show stark contrast

Last week, London's mayor, Boris Johnson, in a speech meant to associate himself with Margaret Thatcher and launch his bid to be Britain's prime minister, opened a discussion perfectly timed to counter Bill de Blasio, who will take office as New York's mayor in a few weeks, and his vision of urban life.

Great cities have become the most obvious economic symbols of our time. They reward success. They have less and less room for failure. Johnson, in the most explicit terms possible, put himself on the side of success and the successful, going so far as to praise hedge-funders and to recall the 1980s Gordon Gekko credo that "greed is good," that success ultimately raises all boats.

De Blasio, as he takes over the world's richest city, is perhaps the clearest representative of the new ethos that success is problematic, that its rewards ought to be substantially scaled back, that it is fundamentally unfair in principle and that, however you cut it, profit to one person means loss to another.

The contrast here is even more stark, given that, in many ways, London and New York are the same city, or at least part of the same economic zone of international wealth and finance and of the monetization of brain power and market cunning.

London Mayor Boris Johnson Johnson offers praise for hedge-funders and has recalled the 1980s Gordon Gekko credo that "greed is good," that success ultimately raises all boats.(Photo: Leon Neal, AFP/Getty Images)

Johnson went so far as to specifically single out the gulf that separates the smarts, with their commercial acumen, from the stupids, who don't have the brain power and creativity to compete.

De Blasio, for his part, has tried to make outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg — prototype of ! the savviest businessmen of the age and an admirer of Johnson's — a symbol of market aggression and heartlessness.

In Johnson's view, the market meritocracy has created not just vast wealth but exponentially greater opportunities. The rich get richer, but, to a greater extent than ever before, so does a larger segment of everyone else.

In de Blasio's view, we have lost our way, and ought to reset at some better place in the past.

For Johnson, the terrible days of the 1970s, in a Britain beset by stagnation and union demands, are the enemy. The measure of the accomplishments of the new economic order is how far we have come from that.

For de Blasio, the 1970s seem to exist in a nostalgic haze; those days, even with the crime and near bankruptcy of the city, were more egalitarian and open.

Both men are, of course, exaggerating their cases.

London remains, and will continue to remain, a city committed to providing a vast social-services infrastructure — one that Johnson, as Thatcher before him, has done little to dismantle or alter. (His mayoral powers don't give him much leverage in that regard.)

De Blasio will need to curry as much or more favor among the rich and powerful as he will among the unions that helped elect him.

But their argument, as theoretical as it is, is surely more bracing and more significant than the one in Washington between a right-wing infrastructure representing an ever-diminishing constituency, and a liberal bloc without much of a point of view beyond being against the right-wing position. Or in Britain, between a left and a right that mostly strives to be like each other.

Johnson and de Blasio represent the alternative sides of yuppie consciousness, the aspirational urban demographic being the electoral currency of our time — in the U.S., Europe, and growing at a fast clip, in much of the rest of the urban world.

In each case, the argument is as much about how to make the argument.

Johnson, a political bad bo! y as well! as an enormously popular politician, is trying to say the unsayable: The reality of wealth creation is inequality. The more wealth you create, the more inequality there is. Hence, with a little critical interpretation, inequality is good. It just has to be managed. In Britain, the opposition is apoplectic, accusing him of being not necessarily wrong, but "unpleasant."

De Blasio, being quite possibly the most famous left-wing elected official in the U.S., is, in essence, saying the same thing, but with an opposite conclusion: New York is vastly inequitable, and we all, or at least those looking down from above — and everybody in New York looks down on somebody — ought to feel guilty about it.

Curiously, in a city where just about everybody voted for him — not just because there wasn't much of an alternative, but because we all regard ourselves in a public sense as liberal citizens — it is hard to find anybody who doesn't privately roll his or her eyes about him.

The great change in our lifetimes is that most of us live in cities — more and more, we are citizens of the urban experience rather than of individual nations. The exodus from cities was reversed, and now, from around the world, regardless of borders, more and more people, rich and poor, come to the major cities of the world every day. In some new and repurposed Dickensian fashion, we are all engaged in an existential struggle for accomplishment and self-improvement, demeaning and rewarding, transformative and frightening.

We deserve both Boris Johnson and Bill de Blasio.

Friday, December 6, 2013

What the biggest hedge fund has been buying

Every quarter, many money managers have to disclose what they've bought and sold, via "13F" filings. Their latest moves can shine a bright light on smart stock picks.

Today, let's look at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund company -- and, in 2010 and 2011, provider of the best-performing hedge fund as well. Bridgewater was founded by Ray Dalio, who focuses on macroeconomic factors as he makes his investment decisions -- factors such as inflation, currency exchange rates, and GDP growth. He's clearly skilled, as the size of Bridgewater attests.

It can be hard to find sufficient promising places to park your money when you have so many billions to invest, but Bridgewater partly solves that problem with index funds, recently holding about 34% of its reportable stock portfolio value in the Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF, 29% in the S&P 500 SDPR ETF, and 25% in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF for a total of 89%.

Earlier this year, Dalio was so bullish on the stock market that he even suggested that people borrow money to invest. That's not the best approach for many, as it adds risk, but it did reflect Dalio's confidence in public equities.

The company's reportable stock portfolio totaled $11.9 billion in value as of Sept. 30, 2013.

Interesting developments

So what does Bridgewater Associates' latest quarterly 13F filing tell us? Here are a few interesting details.

The biggest new holdings are Hewlett-Packard and Ralph Lauren. Other new holdings of interest include General Electric (ticker: GE) . General Electric has been transforming itself into a leaner, meaner, and more profitable" company. It's not done, either -- it's spinning off its retail finance business. GE has a lot of plans, such as reducing its share count, and has been winning hefty contracts, such as a $700 million one in Saudi Arabia. Its third quarter offered growing margins, a big backlog of orders, and double-digit growth aims for its industrial business. GE'! s more than $125 billion in cash and equivalents gives it a lot of power and flexibility. CEO Jeff Immelt has spoken of focusing on reliability. Many see General Electric stock as a solid value. It yields 2.8%.

Among holdings in which Bridgewater Associates increased its stake were Micron Technology (MU) and Corning (NYSE: GLW) . Micron shares have more than tripled over the past year and are near a 52-week high. Micron has been making some smart moves, such as buying the Japanese company Elpida, which has made Micron the world's second-largest DRAM maker. The new company has twice Micron's previous memory capacity, more pricing power, and a bigger relationship with Apple. Micron Technology recently announced a new, higher-performing processor architecture that's likely to compete with Intel offerings. Micron's recently reported fourth quarter was solid, topping expectations. With its forward P/E ratio near 10, many still see great value in the stock, and some investing legends have been buying.

Corning recently saw its stock surge 25% to a two-year high on news of a major deal with Samsung, with many still seeing a lot more upside in the stock. Its Gorilla Glass has been a great contributor to the company, installed in more than 1 billion mobile devices. Corning has doubled its dividend in less than three years, and it now yields 2.3%. The company has been buying back billions of dollars' worth of shares, too.

Bridgewater Associates reduced its stake in lots of companies, including Broadcom (BRCM) and Vale (VALE) . Communications chipmaker Broadcom has bulls optimistic about its presence in the new iPhones and in Nexus 5 devices. That bodes well for Broadcom's bottom line, and a recent acquisition might prove to be a game changer for it, too. It has been investing heavily in LTE technology, but bears worry that it's having trouble growing its business. Broadcom stock yields 1.7%.

Brazil-based Vale has been focusing on its most promising opportunities, such as iron, while cutting! costs ag! gressively, cutting back on its investments, and selling assets. It also recently took advantage of a chance to cut billions off its $16 billion tax obligations to Brazil. Demand from China seems to be growing, which bodes well for Vale. Vale stock does offer a dividend, but it has fluctuated quite a bit. With a forward P/E ratio near 7, the stock seems attractive.

Finally, Bridgewater Associates' biggest closed positions included Tesoro and Cognizant Technology Solutions.

We should never blindly copy any investor's moves, no matter how talented the investor. But it can be useful to keep an eye on what smart folks are doing. 13F forms can be great places to find intriguing candidates for our portfolios.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

&lt;SCRIPT language='JavaScript1.1'SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N4538.USAToday/B2304017.8;abr=!ie;sz=550x300;ord=[timestamp]?"&gt;&lt;/SCRIPT&gt;&lt;NOSCRIPT&gt;&lt;AHREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N4538.USAToday/B2304017.8;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=550x300;ord=[timestamp]?"&gt;&lt;IMGSRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N4538.USAToday/B2304017.8;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=550x300;ord=[timestamp]?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=550 HEIGHT=300ALT="Advertisement"&gt;&lt;/A&gt;&lt;/NOSCRIPT&gt;

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Dos and dont’s to dodge cybergrinches

One you're done with turkey and pumpkin pie, prepare yourself for an onslaught of tainted web links and viral attachments, deployed by cybergrinches to take over control of your computing device.

These malicious digital gifts will come at you in e-mail, social media postings and search results -- decorated like greeting cards, coupons, shipping documents and other innocuous bits of info. Dr. Brett Stone-Gross, researcher at Dell SecureWorks, supplied CyberTruth with these dozen tips for making it harder for the bad guys to spoil your holiday good cheer.

Be wary of holiday gift cards, holiday coupon offers, holiday cards, photos, etc. sent via e-mail. These often have malicious links within the offer which lead to downloads of info-stealing Trojans or the hackers try to scam you out of your bank account information.

Type the actual Web site address of the retailer you want to visit into your browser. Do not follow links provided by e-mail offers or pop up ads. Many times these are fraudulent sites made to look like the legitimate retail sites.

10 Best Oil Stocks To Watch For 2014

Avoid using debit cards to do online purchases when possible so as to limit your personal exposure to any possible fraudulent transactions. Use a credit card that limits your fraud liability

Always look at your Web browser for the https (as opposed to http) protocol that proceeds a Web address. The "s" let's you know that the Web site is providing a layer of security for transmitting your personal information over the Internet.

Be wary of unsolicited e-mails, even from senders that you know, that include links or attachments. Before clicking on links or attachments, try to verify the authenticity with the sender.

This is a faked shipping document carrying a link the turns control over to the Cutwail botnet.(Photo: Dell SecureWorks)

Be especially cautious of clicking on links posted on social networking and micro blogging sites. Shortened URLs make it easier to share, tweet or email links but they also create a security threat, as it easy to disguise the destination of the malicious links.

Ensure that your browser, browser plug-ins, anti-virus, and other software are patched and up-to-date. Patch management is key. It is critical that as soon as they become available you install updates for your applications and for your computer's operating system.

Use a dedicated computer for any online banking and bill paying. That computer or virtualized desktop should not be used to send and receive emails or surf the web, since Web exploits and malicious e-mail are two of the key malware infection vectors..

Reconcile your banking statements on a regular basis with online banking and/or credit card activity to identify potential anomalous transactions that may indicate account takeover.

Be cautious about installing software (especially software that is too good to be true – e.g., download accelerators, spyware removal tools), and be conscience about pop-ups from websites asking users to download/execute/or run otherwise privileged operations. Often this free software and these pop-ups have malware embedded.

Be wary of e-mails notifying you that your banking certificate or token is out of date and to download a new certificate or token. Before taking any action, verify with your financial institution by calling them on a number that is not provided in the email.

Avoid using weak or default passwords.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

New home sales rose 25% in October

New home sales rose 25% in October, suggesting that a critical sector of the economy is continuing to gain strength as the end of the year approaches.

Builders sold homes at a seasonally-adjusted annual pace of 444,000 in October after a revised estimate of 354,000 for September, the Census Bureau said Wednesday. That beat economists' projections of 425,000 for October.

The strong report supports the idea that the economy is gaining some steam. Home sales are a crucial part of the recovery, because new home construction is still at less than half of its pre-recession peak, and each new home built supports between 3 and 4.5 new jobs, according to different estimates by economic consulting firms.

"Real estate took us into this mess, and in some ways real estate is going to lead us out of it,'' said Frank Friedman, chief financial officer of consulting firm Deloitte.

The outlook for housing depends on wage growth, household formation and the number of houses for sale, T. Rowe Price Associates chief economist Alan Levenson said in New York on Tuesday.

The good signs include a drop in new home inventories that builders need to sell, meaning that any increase in demand will lead quickly to new construction and new jobs, he said. The Census Bureau said builders have enough homes to satisfy 4.9 months of demand at the current sales pace, less than half of what they had during the recession and down from 6.4 months' supply in September.

The question mark is when household formation will rebound, after an extended shortfall, Levenson said. The number of households has historically risen by about 1.5% a year, as young people graduate from school or college and leave their parents' homes, according to Census data. That rate fell by two-thirds during the recession.

That has led to more than 2 million ''missing households,'' Trulia.com chief economist Jed Kolko wrote in a July 2013 report. The housing recovery will gain steam when more of those people strike out on their o! wn, he said.

The key to when that will happen is wage growth, Levenson said. Household formation has been slow to rebound during the recovery because wages continued to fall early in the recovery and grown tepidly into this year, he said.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS), L Brands Inc(NYSE:LTD): How November Comps Will Fare Post Black Friday?

Black Friday weekend trends were soft and somewhat disappointing despite an increase in the number of shoppers. Given the earlier Thanksgiving Day mall openings this year (generally 8 p.m. versus midnight last year) shoppers felt less urgency, and last year's midnight crowds did not show up at 8 p.m.

The National Retail Federation estimated that consumers spent $57.4 billion over the Thanksgiving weekend, down 2.7 percent from last year. More than 141 million unique shoppers have already or will have shopped by the end of the big Thanksgiving weekend, up from 139 million over the same time frame last year.

Top 5 Financial Stocks To Own Right Now

Low prices helped keep Americans' budgets in check this weekend: on average, shoppers spent $407.02 from Thursday through Sunday (planned), down from $423.55 last year, NRF added.

[Related -American Eagle Outfitters (AEO): Hitting The $20 Demographic]

Traffic built from 8 p.m. to midnight and saw a second rush on Black Friday morning. Traffic waned once doorbusters concluded. Some demand may have also been pulled forward by the heightened promotional stance throughout the month, creating a self-inflicted lack of excitement.

BMO Capital Markets analyst John Morris believes November trends were decent, driven by the onset of seasonal weather. However, the true underlying demand will likely be offset by the later Thanksgiving, which moves the key post-Thanksgiving shopping week out of November and into December. The analyst estimate that the trend would hurt retailers' November comps by around 3-4 points.

Let's see how the Black Friday fared for various retailers:

[Related -Store Intel: Gap Store (GPS), American Eagle (AEO), Abercrombie (ANF)]

Gap, Inc. (NYSE:GPS):

Like last year, Gap's store-wide Black Friday sale started a couple of days before Thanksgiving, offering discounts of 'up to 60 pe! rcent off' as well as daily deals, such as $19 sweaters on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. On Black Friday, the company stepped up the level of discounting to 50 percent off the entire store.

Despite the steeper discounts, traffic and conversion levels appeared in line with last year, which could be a response to a less compelling product assortment.

However, field checks point to a strong Black Friday at Old Navy, with an initial surge fueled by the "Overnight Millionaire" sweepstakes, and ongoing strength throughout the day due to the 50 percent off the entire store discount.

Morris expects a 1 percent comp versus 3 percent last year in November, versus the consensus of flat to up low single digit. This comes on the heels of a better-than-expected 4 percent versus 2 percent last year in October, which benefited from both a sale event shift and incremental promotional activity.

Along these lines, the comp performance should be driven largely by promotions, particularly at the core Gap brand, where the product reception has been mixed.

Limited Brands (NYSE:LTD):

The company is up against strong Black Friday weekends over the past several years, across both brands. While both Victoria's Secret (VS) and Bath and Body Works (BBW) were busy, one did not see the same levels of traffic and long lines like previous years, particularly at VS.

This could be due to some 'promotional fatigue,' as the brand has generally been more promotional throughout the year.

Meanwhile, PINK stores were relatively busier on Black Friday, driven by the BOGO 50 percent off bras offer. BBW's traffic was relatively stronger, driven by strong conversion in the 'Buy 3 Get 3' Signature Collection (launched October) and the gift-with-purchase offer.

Morris believes that BBW is benefiting from the re-launch of its Signature Collection and is also seeing solid performance of the more prestige fragrances, including the new introduction Forever Midnight.

Victoria's! Secret o! ffered a limited edition VS tote free with a $70 purchase. Both PINK and VS offered bras BOGO 50% off. PINK offered a $25 hoodie or yoga leggings, tees, tanks, and leggings two for $30. Bath & Body Works featured a free VIP bag for $20 with any $40 purchase (over $100 value). Anti-bac soaps $2.50. Signature Collection was B3G3 Free.

Morris sees Limited Brands reporting a flat comp for November, ahead of guidance of low single digit decline and a consensus view of 1 percent drop.

Children's Place (NASDAQ:PLCE):

Business at Children's Place was solid this year, yet still a touch below plan. Promos looked slightly deeper than last year, with a backdrop of strong competition from Gap Kids, Gymboree, Old Navy, Target, and other players.

Black Friday 2013 promo included 30 percent off savings pass. Black Friday 30-50 percent off everything.

Glacier fleece $4.90 and up after an extra 30 percent off, all basic denim $8.40 and up after an extra 30 percent off, all outerwear now 50 percent off.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO):

AEO offered 50 percent off the entire store, which was only intended to run through 6 a.m., but extended well into the afternoon at most locations, before switching to 40 percent off, in line with last year. Similar to last year, the store also began running 40 percent off several days before Thanksgiving.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Madoff’s ex-finance chief testifies in NY trial

NEW YORK — The ex-finance chief for Ponzi scheme architect Bernard Madoff took the witness stand against five former co-workers Monday and began to sketch evidence that allegedly enmeshes them in the fraud.

Appearing as the star prosecution witness, Frank DiPascali, 57, testified he played an essential role in the decades-long scheme that stole more than $17 billion from thousands of charities, celebrities, ordinary investors, financial firms and other entities.

Testifying nearly five years to the date the longest-running Ponzi scheme in financial history finally collapsed, DiPascali did not immediately accuse the five former co-workers of being knowing participants in the scheme — as they stand charged.

But DiPascali — dressed in a light gray suit and speaking with a gravely New York accent — described how he first saw evidence of the scam shortly after joining Madoff's firm in 1975.

Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Zach, he described how a Madoff trader provided stock data from newspapers to Madoff executive assistant Annette Bongiorno, the next-door neighbor who helped him get the job. Bongiorno, one of the five co-defendants, used that data to create monthly financial and trading reports for Madoff's customers.

Facing DiPascali in the Manhattan federal courtroom with Bongiorno were: Daniel Bonventre, Madoff's former director of operations; JoAnn Crupi, another ex-assistant; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, former Madoff computer programmers.

The five are accused of conspiracy and fraud for allegedly helping Madoff. They have pleaded not guilty and maintained they were hoodwinked by their former boss.

Madoff confessed the scam to his sons in Dec. 2008 as he unsuccessfully tried to cope with investor withdrawal requests prompted in part by the national financial crisis. They notified authorities. The now-75-year-old disgraced financier pleaded guilty in 2009 without standing trial. He's now serving a 150-year prison sentence in a Nor! th Carolina federal facility.

DiPascali testified that he awoke on Dec. 11, 2008 to a cell phone call from Madoff, who told him that FBI agents were in the company's office. "Why are you calling me?" DiPascali testified he responded and then said he "threw the phone across the room."

Asked by Zach what he thought DiPascali said "that I was going to jail, because I knew the nature of the operation and I knew why the firm was busted."

Aware of the impact DiPascali's unsavory central role in the scam could have on jurors, Zach led him through his own 2009 guilty plea to conspiracy, fraud and other charges. DiPascali testified that prosecutors may provide a letter about his cooperation to the judge who could sentence him for up to 125 years in prison. But he said he has been given no promises that will happen.

Defense lawyers will get a chance to cross-examine DiPascali when prosecutors finish their direct examination of the former Madoff lieutenant. They signaled during the trial's opening statements in October that they plan to argue DiPascali would say anything to shorten the 125-year maximum potential prison term he faces.

O'Hara defense lawyer Gordon Mehler argued at that time that recruiting DiPascali to testify against the former co-workers was "the equivalent of the Big Bad Wolf getting on the witness stand and condemning Little Red Riding Hood."

Prosecutors detailed DiPascali's continuing cooperation in a heavily-redacted Nov. 15 letter filed with U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan. The judge scheduled a sentencing update for May 2014.

Asked by Zach what sentence he hoped to receive if he provides truthful testimony in this case and other Madoff investigations, DiPascali said "something substantially less" than the maximum term.