Best Auto Car Show: February 2014

Friday, February 21, 2014

Can Best Buy Stock Rebound?

With shares of Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) trading around $27, is BBY an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY? Let's analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Best Buy is a multinational retailer of consumer electronics, computing and mobile phone products, entertainment products, appliances, and related services. The company operates retail stores and call centers, and conducts online retail operations under a range of brand names like Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, The Carphone Warehouse, Five Star, Future Shop, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and The Phone House. Best Buy operates in two segments: domestic and international.

Best Buy watched its stock plunge more than 27 percent in morning trading Thursday after announcing poor holiday results that suffered from heavy competition and deep discounting. The consumer electronics retailer said revenue for the nine weeks ended Jan. 4 slumped 2.6 percent to $11.45 billion from the same period a year earlier. Same store sales slipped 0.9 percent in the U.S., though they managed at 0.1 percent boost internationally.

In late morning trading in New York, Best Buy stock tanked nearly 28 percent, or $10.45, to $27.11 a share. Hubert Joly, chief executive of the Minneapolis chain, blamed an epidemic of deals, discounts and bargains across the industry. "The promotional intensity that began with Black Friday continued throughout the period, which led us and our competitors to answer one question — do we make the incremental investment necessary to be price competitive and defend our market share?" Joly said in a statement. "For us, there was only one answer." But the rampant price slashing "did not result in higher industry demand and had a deflationary impact on our revenue," Joly said.

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart Are Weak

Best Buy stock has been pulling back in recent times. The stock is currently trading at lows for the year and may need time to stabilize before heading higher. Analyzing the price trend and its strength can be done using key simple moving averages. What are the key moving averages? The 50-day (pink), 100-day (blue), and 200-day (yellow) simple moving averages. As seen in the daily price chart below, Best Buy is trading below its rising key averages, which signal neutral to bearish price action in the near-term.

BBY

(Source: Thinkorswim)

Taking a look at the implied volatility (red) and implied volatility skew levels of Best Buy options may help determine if investors are bullish, neutral, or bearish.

	Implied Volatility (IV)	30-Day IV Percentile	90-Day IV Percentile
Best Buy options	51.03%	96%	93%

What does this mean? This means that investors or traders are buying a very significant amount of call and put options contracts, as compared to the last 30 and 90 trading days.

	Put IV Skew	Call IV Skew
February Options	Steep	Average
March Options	Steep	Average

As of today, there is an average demand from call buyers or sellers and high demand by put buyers or low demand by put sellers, all neutral to bearish over the next two months. To summarize, investors are buying a very significant amount of call and put option contracts and are leaning neutral to bearish over the next two months.

On the next page, let’s take a look at the earnings and revenue growth rates and the conclusion.

E = Earnings Are Mixed Quarter-Over-Quarter

Rising stock prices are often strongly correlated with rising earnings and revenue growth rates. Also, the last four quarterly earnings announcement reactions help gauge investor sentiment on Best Buy’s stock. What do the last four quarterly earnings and revenue growth (Y-O-Y) figures for Best Buy look like and more importantly, how did the markets like these numbers?

	2013 Q3	2013 Q2	2013 Q1	2012 Q4
Earnings Growth (Y-O-Y)	633.33%	23.08%	95.11%	-107.14%
Revenue Growth (Y-O-Y)	-0.20%	-11.82%	-19.21%	-5.23%
Earnings Reaction	-10.97%	13.24%	-4.36%	4.57%

Best Buy has seen increasing earnings and decreasing revenue figures over the last four quarters. From these numbers, the markets have been disappointed with Best Buy’s recent earnings announcements.

P = Weak Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector

How has Best Buy stock done relative to its peers, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), and sector?

	Best Buy	Amazon	Apple	Wal-Mart	Sector
Year-to-Date Return	-32.70%	-0.02%	-0.92%	-2.38%	-2.10%

Best Buy has been a poor relative performer, year-to-date.

Conclusion

Best Buy is a provider of electronics and related products and services to consumers and growing companies worldwide. The company watched its stock plunge more than 27 percent in morning trading Thursday after announcing poor holiday results that suffered from heavy competition and deep discounting. The stock has been pulling back in recent times and is currently trading at lows for the year. Over the last four quarters, investors have been disappointed as earnings have been increasing and revenues have been decreasing. Relative to its peers and sector, Best Buy has been a poor year-to-date performer. WAIT AND SEE what Best Buy does this quarter.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Toothpaste. Toilet paper. Soap. Cereal.

These products aren't nearly as sexy as smartphones or social networks. But for the past few years, the stocks behind the companies that make and sell the boring items we consume every day have run like a scalded dog.

Since the post-panic market lows of early 2009, the Consumer Staples Select SPDR (NYSE: XLP) has risen 140%. Not including dividends, that's an average annual return of 36%. Throw those in, and you get an annual total return north of 40%. Not too shabby. (Coincidentally, the return on the S&P 500 index for the same interval is about the same.)

How High Can They Go?
As investors have tiptoed back into equities, they've gravitated toward stocks of staid consumer goods manufacturers.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Fibria Celulose SA (FBR)

Fibria Celulose S.A. (Fibria), formerly Votorantim Celulose e Papel S.A., incorporated on July 25, 1941, is a producer of market pulp. During the year ended December 31, 2010, Fibria produced 5,054 kilotons of eucalyptus pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel). The Company also produces coated and uncoated paper, carbonless paper and thermal paper at its Piracicaba paper mill, located in the State of Sao Paulo with an annual production capacity of 190 kilotons. During 2010, it produced 115 kilotons of paper products and recorded consolidated net revenues. Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp at three pulp mills, the Aracruz pulp mill located in the State of Espirito Santo, which has an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons; the Tres Lagoas pulp mill located in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, which has an annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons, and the Jacarei pulp mill located in the State of Sao Paulo, which has an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons. The Company has a 50% interest in Veracel, which owns and operates a pulp mill in the municipality of Eunapolis, State of Bahia, with an annual production capacity of 1.1 million tons.

Pulp

Fibria produces bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp from planted eucalyptus trees. Bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp is a range of hardwood pulp. Eucalyptus is a hardwood tree, and its pulp has short fibers and is generally suited to manufacturing tissue, coated and uncoated printing and writing paper and coated packaging boards. Short fibers are optimal for manufacturing wood-free paper with good printability, smoothness, brightness and uniformity. Market pulp is the pulp sold to producers of paper products. Kraft pulp is pulp produced in a chemical process using sulphate. During 2010, it produced 5,054 kilotons of pulp (including 50.0% of the pulp production of Veracel).

Paper

During 2010, Fibria produced 115 kilotons of paper. The Company produced coated printing an! d writing paper, which is a coated woodfree paper used for promotional materials, folders, internal sheets and cover of magazines, books, tabloids, inserts and mailing; uncoated printing and writing paper, which is a uncoated woodfree paper in reels and sheets; carbonless paper, which is used to produce multi-copy forms, POS, invoices and other applications in place of traditional carbon paper, and thermal paper, which is traditionally used in fax machines; POS, bar code labels, toll tickets, water and gas bills and receipts for automated teller machines (ATMs) and credit card machines. It manufactures thermal paper products with technology licensed byOji Paper Co., Ltd (Oji Paper).

The Company competes with APRIL, Arauco, APP, Georgia Pacific, CMPC, Sodra, Stora Enso, Weyerhaeuser and Suzano.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Fibria Celulose (NYSE: FBR ) reported earnings on July 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Fibria Celulose met expectations on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Weatherford International Ltd(WFT)

Weatherford International Ltd. provides equipment and services used in the drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention of oil and natural gas wells worldwide. It offers artificial lift systems, which include reciprocating rod lift systems, progressing cavity pumps, gas lift systems, hydraulic lift systems, plunger lift systems, hybrid lift systems, wellhead systems, and multiphase metering systems. The company also provides drilling services, including directional drilling, ?Secure Drilling? services, well testing, drilling-with-casing and drilling-with-liner systems, and surface logging systems; and well construction services, such as tubular running services, cementing products, liner systems, swellable products, solid tubular expandable technologies, and inflatable products and accessories. In addition, it designs and manufactures drilling jars, underreamers, rotating control devices, and other pressure-control equipment used in drilling oil and nat ural gas wells; and offers a selection of in-house or third-party manufactured equipment for the drilling, completion, and work over of oil and natural gas wells for operators and drilling contractors, as well as a line of completion tools and sand screens. Further, the company provides wireline and evaluation services; and re-entry, fishing, and thru-tubing services, as well as well abandonment and wellbore cleaning services; stimulation and chemicals, including fracturing and coiled tubing technologies, cement services, chemical systems, and drilling fluids; integrated drilling services; and pipeline and specialty services. It serves independent oil and natural gas producing companies. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jeremy Bowman]
What: The shares of Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT ) were getting a lift today, climbing as much as 10% after posting first-quarter results last night.
[By Dr. Kent Moors]
That's why some of the biggest OFS providers - like Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT) - have been buying up oil and gas equipment companies.
[By Traders Reserve]
Despite the poor operating performance, things are looking up for Weatherford (WFT) ��that�� why the selling at the start of the year is so perplexing and likely to attract a private equity or hedge fund manager. Analysts expect profits to grow by 58% next year. At current prices, the stock trades for only 11.5 times 2014 estimated earnings. That�� about as cheap as it gets. An astute big boy manager is going to exploit that valuation metric in very short order. I�� get in before they do.
[By Tony Daltorio]
The biggest oilfield service companies should get a big lift from the boom, Moors said. That includes Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE: WFT), and Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI).

Top 10 Penny Stocks To Watch For 2015: CenturyLink Inc.(CTL)

CenturyLink, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated communications company. The company provides a range of communications services, including voice, Internet, data, and video services in the continental United States. Its services include local exchange and long distance voice telephone services, as well as enhanced voice services, such as call forwarding, caller identification, conference calling, voicemail, selective call ringing, and call waiting; wholesale local network access services; and data services, including high-speed Internet access services, data transmission services over special circuits and private lines, and switched digital television services, as well as special access and private line services. The company also offers fiber transport, competitive local exchange carrier, security monitoring, and other communications, as well as professional and business information services. In addition, it provides other related services, such as leasing, selling, installing, and maintaining customer premise telecommunications equipment and wiring; payphone services; and network database services, as well as participates in the publication of local telephone directories. Further, the company offers printing, direct mail services, and cable television services; and wireless broadband Internet access services and satellite television services. As of December 31, 2010, it operated approximately 6.5 million telephone access lines. CenturyLink, Inc was founded in 1968 and is based in Monroe, Louisiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Mike Deane]
CenturyLink, Inc. (CTL) announced its third quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, with core revenues tumbling 1% from last year’s Q3 figure.

CTL Earnings In Brief

-The company announced operating revenues of $4.52 billion, which was slightly above the analyst consensus of $4.51 billion.
-The company’s adjusted earnings came in at $375 million, or 63 cents per share; this is in line with analysts’ EPS estimates.
-CTL gave EPS guidance for the fourth quarter of 55 cents to 60 cents, which is below the 63 cents that analysts are expecting.
-Q4 guidance for revenue is in the range of $4.5 billion to $4.55 billion, which is in line with analysts’ views.

CEO Commentary

Glen F. Post III, the CEO and president of CenturyLink, had the following to say about the company’s quarterly results:

“Overall, we continue to perform well with particular strength in our Business segment where sustained demand for high-bandwidth services and solid sales momentum continue to drive strong results.�Despite this overall solid operating performance in the third quarter, there was a special item which significantly impacted our�financial results�for the quarter. We were required, under GAAP, to recognize a non-cash $1.1 billion impairment to the goodwill assigned to our Data Hosting segment. While we continue to be optimistic and encouraged about the future growth potential and value of our Data Hosting business, we are not currently achieving the forecasted growth and cash flows we originally projected.�As part of our accounting valuation process, past performance was a factor in the development of growth projections for our Data Hosting business in future periods.”

No Mention of Dividend�

CTL did not mention its dividend in the quarterly report, and last paid a dividend on September 19. Look for CTL to declare a dividend in mid-November. The company’s last dividend mov
[By Rick Munarriz]
Finally, we have CenturyLink� (NYSE: CTL ) coming through with encouraging bottom-line results. Its adjusted profit of $0.76 a share was ahead of the $0.68 a share it posted a year earlier. The pros were targeting flat earnings growth.
[By Dan Caplinger]
On Wednesday, CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise.�

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Meadwestvaco Corporation (MWV)

MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV) provides packaging solutions to the healthcare, personal care and beauty, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco, and commercial print industries worldwide. The company?s Packaging Resources segment produces bleached paperboard, Coated Natural Kraft paperboard, and linerboard. Its Consumer Solutions segment designs and produces multi-pack cartons and packaging systems primarily for the beverage take-home and tobacco market. In addition, it offers a range of converting and consumer packaging solutions, including printed plastic packaging and injection-molded products used for personal care, beauty, and pharmaceutical products; and dispensing and sprayer systems for personal care, beauty, healthcare, fragrance, and home and garden markets. In addition, this segment has a pharmaceutical packaging contract with a mass-merchant, and manufactures equipment that is leased or sold to its beverage and dairy customers to package their products. The c ompany?s Consumer & Office Products segment manufactures, sources, markets, and distributes school and office products, time-management products, and envelopes in North America and Brazil through both retail and commercial channels. Its Specialty Chemicals segment manufactures, markets, and distributes specialty chemicals derived from sawdust and other byproducts of the papermaking process in North America, South America, and Asia. Its products include activated carbon used in emission control systems for automobiles and trucks, as well as for water and food purification applications, and performance chemicals used in printing inks, asphalt paving, adhesives, and lubricants for the agricultural, paper, and petroleum industries. MWV?s Community Development and Land Management segment involves in real estate development, forestry operations, and leasing activities. MeadWestvaco Corporation was founded in 1888 and is based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ray Merola]
International Paper Co Share Price versus Competitors RockTenn (RKT), MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV), Packaging Corporation of America (PKG), and S&P 500 (March 2009-to-date)

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund(CFP)

Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund is a closed-ended equity fund of fund launched and managed by Cornerstone Advisors, Inc. The fund invests funds investing in the public equity markets of the United States. It invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. Cornerstone Progressive Return Fund was formed on April 26, 2007 and is domiciled in the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dan Caplinger]
But you can see in several places the consequences of the stampede toward high yield. Here are just a few:
Closed-end funds Cornerstone Progressive (NYSEMKT: CFP ) and Pimco High Income (NYSE: PHK ) both make fixed payments back to fund shareholders on a monthly basis, and their distribution yields are truly extraordinary, at about 17% and 12%, respectively. Those dividends have enticed shareholders to pay $1.30 to $1.40 or more for each $1 of assets in the funds. Yet during most months, a substantial portion of those distribution payments has simply been a return of investor capital rather than true income from the funds' investments. A recent study discussed in The Wall Street Journal found that returns on a portfolio with a combined value and dividend-income strategy outperformed a strategy focused more exclusively on maximizing dividends by an average of 1.7 percentage points per year, a huge edge in long-run returns. In the dividend ETF arena, most funds tend to focus on maximizing yield. Although the popular Vanguard Dividend Appreciation (NYSEMKT: VIG ) ETF bucks the trend by screening first for consistent dividend growth and only then looking at yield as a factor, many rival ETFs start with high-yielding stocks as their baseline and only then consider other desirable traits. Others focus solely on high-dividend niches of the market, such as iShares FTSE NAREIT Mortgage-Plus (NYSEMKT: REM ) and its concentration on high-yield mortgage REITs.
When dividend stocks get too popular, their prices get out of line with both their dividend income and the fundamentals of the businesses that underlie those stocks. In simpler terms, when dividend stocks become bad values, it's time to consider looking elsewhere for a margin of safety.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Boise Inc (BZ)

Boise Inc., incorporated on February 1, 2007, is a manufacturer of packaging and paper products, including corrugated containers and sheets, containerboard, protective packaging products, imaging papers for the office and home, printing and converting papers, label and release papers, newsprint and market pulp. The Company operates in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Canada. The Company operates in three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Company�� newsprint is sold primarily to newspaper publishers in the southern and southwestern the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2012, approximately 38% of the Company�� uncoated freesheet paper was sold to OfficeMax Incorporated, its customer.

Packaging

In the Packaging segment, the Company manufactures and sells linerboard, containerboard, corrugated containers and sheets, protective packaging products, and newsprint. Linerboard is a paperboard, which when combined with corrugating medium is used in the manufacture of corrugated sheets and containers. Corrugated sheets are containerboard sheets that are sold primarily to converters that produce a variety of corrugated products. Corrugated containers are corrugated sheets that have been fed through converting machines to create containers, which are used in the packaging of fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products. Stock boxes are corrugated containers manufactured to pre-set dimensions.

Protective packaging products include multi-material customized packaging solutions, which may utilize kraft paper-based honeycomb corrugated packaging, foamed plastics, and air pocket packing materials Newsprint is a paper commonly used for printing newspapers, other publications, and advertising material. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its Packaging segment produced approximately 613,000 short tons of linerboard, and its Paper segment produced approximately 135,000 short tons! of corrugating medium. It manufactures linerboard and newsprint on two machines at its mill in DeRidder, Louisiana. It also manufactures corrugated containers and sheets and protective packaging products at 26 plants located in North America and Europe.

Paper

In its Paper segment, the Company manufactures and sells three general categories of products: communication-based papers; packaging-based papers, and market pulp. Its communication-based papers include cut-size office papers, and printing and converting papers. Its Packaging-Demand-Driven Papers include Label and release papers, Flexible packaging papers, and Corrugating medium. Printing and converting papers are used by commercial printers or converters to manufacture envelopes, forms, and other commercial paper products.

Its packaging-based papers include label and release papers and corrugating medium. The Label and release papers include label facestocks, as well as release liners. The coated and uncoated papers sold to customers create packaging products for food and nonfood applications. Market pulp is sold to customers in the open market for use in the manufacture of paper products. The Company manufactures its Paper segment products at three mills, all located in the United States.

Corporate and Other

The Company�� Corporate and Other segment includes transportation assets, such as rail cars and trucks, which it uses to transport its products from its manufacturing sites. The Company provides transportation services not only to its own facilities but also, on a limited basis, to third parties. Rail cars and trucks are typically leased.

The Company competes with International Paper Company, Rock-Tenn Company, Georgia-Pacific LLC, Packaging Corporation of America, Longview Fibre Paper, Packaging, Inc, Green Bay Packaging Inc., KapStone Paper, TexCorr, L.P., Resolute Forest Product, SP Newsprint Co. and Domtar Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Ben Levisohn]
Packaging Corp. of America�(PKG) has jumped 6.3% to $57.99 after it said it would buy Boise (BZ) for $1.28 billion. Boise has gained 26% to $12.55.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY.N)

Berry Plastics Group, Inc. (Berry), incorporated on November 18, 2005, is a provider of plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials. Berry owns 100% interest of Berry Plastics Corporation. Berry sells its solutions predominantly into end markets, such as food and beverage, healthcare and personal care. The Company operates in three segments: Rigid Packaging, Engineered Materials and Flexible Packaging. As of September 19, 2012, the Company supplied its customers through 82 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States (68 locations) and select international locations (14 locations). In June 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest of Frans Nooren Beheer B.V. and its operating companies (Stopaq). In September 2011, the Company acquired 100% interests of Rexam Closures Kentucky Inc., Rexam Delta Inc., Rexam Closures LLC, Rexam Closure Systems LLC, Rexam de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Rexam Singapore PTE Ltd., Rexam Participacoes Ltda. and Rexam Plasticos do Brasil Ltda. (collectively, Rexam SBC). In August 2011, Berry acquired 100% interest of LINPAC Packaging Filmco, Inc.

Rigid Packaging

The Company�� Rigid Packaging business consists of containers, foodservice items, house wares, closures, over caps, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The end uses for these products are consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverage, retail mass marketers, healthcare, personal care and household chemical. The Company manufactures a collection of container products. The Company produces 32 ounce or thermoformed polypropylene (PP) drink cups and offers a product line with sizes ranging from 12 to 52 ounces. The Company�� products of house wares market is focused on producing semi-disposable plastic home and party and plastic garden products. The Company produces closures and over caps across several of its product lines, including continuous-thread and child-resistant closures, as well as aerosol over caps. The Company also provides a range of custom closu! ! re solutions including fitments and plugs for medical applications, cups and spouts for liquid laundry detergent, and dropper bulb assemblies for medical and personal care applications.

The Company competes with Airlite, Letica, Polytainers, Silgan, Aptar Group and Reynolds.

Engineered Materials

Berry�� Engineered Materials business primarily consists of pipeline corrosion protection solutions, specialty tapes and adhesives, polyethylene-based film products, and can liners served to a variety of end markets including oil, water and gas infrastructure, industrial and consumer-oriented end markets. The Company produces anti-corrosion products to infrastructure, rehabilitation and pipeline projects throughout the world. Products include heat-shrinkable coatings, single- and multi-layer sleeves, pipeline coating tapes, anode systems for cathodic protection and epoxy coatings. These products are used in oil, gas and water supply and const ruction applications.

Berry is the manufacturer of cloth and foil tape products. Other tape products include range of splicing and laminating tapes, flame-retardant tapes, vinyl-coated and carton sealing tapes, electrical, double-faced cloth, masking, mounting, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) medical and specialty tapes. These products are sold under the National, Nashua and Polyken brands in the United States. The Company manufactures and sells a portfolio of PE-based film products to end users in the retail markets. These products are sold under brands, such as Ruffies and Film-Gard. Its products include drop cloths and retail trash bags. The Company manufactures customized PP-based, woven and sewn containers for the transportation and storage of raw materials, such as seeds, titanium dioxide, clay and resin pellets.

The Company offers range of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) meat film and agricultural film. Berry�� products are used primarily to wrap fresh meats, poultry and produce for supermarket ! app! lica! tions! . In addition, the Company offers a line of boxed products for food service and retail sales. Berry sells trash-can liners and food bags for offices, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, municipalities and manufacturing facilities. The Company also sells products under the Big City, Hospi-Tuff, Plas-Tuff, Rhino-X and Steel-Flex brands. The Company produces both hand and machine-wrap stretch films, which are used by end users to wrap products and packages for storage and shipping. It sells stretch film products to distributors and retail and industrial end users under the MaxTech and PalleTech brands.

The Company competes with AEP, Sigma and 3M.

Flexible Packaging

The Company�� Flexible Packaging business consists of barrier, multilayer film products, as well as finished flexible packages, such as printed bags and pouches. Berry manufactures and sells a range of film products ranging from mono layer to coextruded films having up to nine layers, lamination films sold primarily to flexible packaging converters and used for peelable lid stock, stand-up pouches, pillow pouches and other flexible packaging formats. The Company also manufactures barrier films used for cereal, cookie, cracker and dry mix packages that are sold directly to food manufacturers like Kraft and Pepsico. It also manufactures films for industrial applications ranging from lamination film for carpet padding to films used in solar panel construction.

The Company supplies component and packaging films used for personal care applications. Berry is a converter of printed bags, pouches and roll stock. Its manufacturing base includes integrated extrusion that combines with printing, laminating, bagmaking, Innolok and laser-score converting processes. The Company is a supplier of printed film products for the fresh bakery, tortilla and frozen vegetable markets with brands, such as SteamQuick Film, Freshview bags and Billboard . The Company manufactures specialty coated and lami! nated pr!! oducts fo! r a range of packaging applications. Its products are sold under the MarvelGuard and MarvelSeal brands and are sold to converters who transform them into finished goods.

The Company competes with Printpak, Tredegar and Bemis.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Castle (A.M.)

A. M. Castle & Co., together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty metals and plastics worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Metals and Plastics. The Metals segment distributes engineered specialty grades and alloys of metals, as well as provides specialized processing services. It offers alloy, aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, carbon, and titanium in various forms, such as plate, sheet, extrusions, round bar, hexagon bar, square and flat bar, tubing, and coil. This segment also performs various specialized fabrications for its customers through pre-qualified subcontractors that thermally process, turn, polish, and straighten alloy and carbon bars. The Plastics segment distributes various plastics in forms that include plate, rod, tube, clear sheet, tape, gaskets, and fittings. The company serves Fortune 500 companies, as well as medium and smaller sized firms in the retail, automotive, marine, office furniture and fixtures, safety products, life scienc es applications, general manufacturing, producer durable equipment, oil and gas, aerospace and defense, heavy industrial equipment, industrial goods, and construction equipment industries. It has operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Singapore. The company was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Weyerhaeuser Company(WY)

Weyerhaeuser Company, a forest products company, grows and harvests trees, builds homes, and manufactures forest products worldwide. It grows and harvests trees for use as lumber, other wood and building products, and pulp and paper. The company manages 6.4 million acres of private commercial forestland; and has long-term licenses on 13.9 million acres of forestland. It also offers timber; minerals, such as rock, sand, and gravel, as well as oil and gas to construction and energy markets; logs; timberland tracts; and seed and seedlings, poles, plywood, and hardwood lumber products. In addition, the company provides structural lumber products for structural framing; engineered lumber products for floor and roof joists, and headers and beams; structural panels for structural sheathing, subflooring, and stair treading for wood products dealers, do-it-yourself retailers, builders, and industrial users. Further, it offers building products comprising cedar, decking, siding, ins ulation, rebar, and engineered lumber connectors. Additionally, the company offers fluff pulp for use in sanitary disposable products; papergrade pulp for printing and writing papers, and tissues; specialty chemical cellulose pulp for use in textiles, absorbent products, specialty packaging, and high-bulking fibers; liquid packaging board converted into containers; and slush and wet lap pulp for manufacturing paper products. It also constructs single-family houses, as well as develops residential lots and land for construction and sale; and master-planned communities with mixed-use property. The company sells its cellulose fibers products through direct sales network, and liquid packaging products directly to carton and food product packaging converters; and wood products through sales organizations and distribution facilities. Weyerhaeuser Company has been elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in Federal Way, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Dimitra DeFotis]
In the homebuidling category:
Weyerhaeuser (WY), the producer of lumber, was up nearly 3%. On Thursday, Citigroup Analyst Anthony Pettinari wrote that Weyerhaeuser could sell its homebuilder unit for between $2.5 billion and $3.5 billion, and interested buyers in the unit, WRECO, could include Lennar�(LEN), Toll Brothers (TOL) and Brookfield Residential Properties (BRP). About 67% of the Weyerhaeuser unit’s roughly 27,000 lots are in California. Citi has a Buy rating on Weyerhauser and a $35 price target. Lennar, the home builder, was�up 2.6%. Masco (MAS), the building materials maker, was�up 2%.� PulteGroup (PHM), the home builder, was�up 2%. DR Horton�(DHI), the home builder, was�up 1.9%.
Among real estate trusts:
[By Dan Caplinger]
This quarter, though, pricing trends haven't been as favorable, with lumber prices losing as much as 25% of their value before bouncing back somewhat. Moreover, Plum Creek has faced more of a competitive threat from rival Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY ) , which bought up 645,000 acres of prime Pacific Northwest timberland from Brookfield Asset Management and its Brookfield Infrastructure Partners affiliate last month. The buy gives Weyerhaeuser more assets with easy access to export markets across the Pacific Ocean in Asia, although the Pacific Northwest does have closer proximity to areas destroyed by the mountain pine beetle.
[By Lisa Levin]
Analysts expect Weyerhaeuser Co (NYSE: WY) to report its Q3 earnings at $0.21 per share on revenue of $2.09 billion. Weyerhaeuser shares rose 0.50% to $30.45 in after-hours trading.
[By Matt DiLallo]
Over the weekend Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM ) announced that it and its affiliate Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (NYSE: BIP ) are selling the Longview Timber business to Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY ) for $2.65 billion. The deal consisted of 645,000 acres of high-quality timberlands in the Pacific Northwest. While these timber assets are located in the U.S., as you will see this deal is all about China.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Vidrala SA (VID)

Vidrala SA is a Spain-based company principally, which is engaged in the glass industry. The Company�� activities include the production, distribution and sale of glass bottles and containers used in the food and beverages industries. The Company conducts its own research and development (R&D) operations. It operates six production plants and 12 melting furnaces located in such countries, as Portugal, France, Belgium and Italy. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned such subsidiaries as Crisnova Vidrio SA, Inverbeira Sociedad de Promocion de Empresas SA, Gallo Vidro SA, Castellar Vidrio SA, Corsico Vetro SRL, MD Verre SA, Omega Immobiliere et Financiere SA, Investverre SA and CD Verre SA.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Graphic Packaging Holding Co (GPK)

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPHC), incorporated on June 21, 2007, is a provider of packaging solutions for a variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. The Company is also a producer of folding cartons and coated unbleached kraft paperboard, coated-recycled board and multi-wall bags. The Company operates in two business segments: paperboard packaging and flexible packaging. The Company�� customers include beverage, food and other consumer products industries. The Company operates in four geographic areas: the United States/Canada, Central/South America, Europe and Asia Pacific. In December 2011, the Company combined its multi-wall bag and specialty plastics packaging businesses with the kraft paper and multi-wall bag businesses of Delta Natural Kraft, LLC and Mid-America Packaging, LLC (collectively DNK), both wholly owned subsidiaries of Capital Five Investments, LLC (CVI). Under the terms of the transaction, the Company formed a company, Graphic Flexible Packaging, LLC (GFP), in which it owns 87% interest. On April 29, 2011, the Company acquired all of the assets of Sierra Pacific Packaging, Inc. (Sierra), a producer of folding cartons, beverage carriers and corrugated boxes for the consumer packaged goods industry. In January 2013, the Company acquired Contego Packaging Holdings, Ltd.

Paperboard Packaging

The Company supplies paperboard cartons and carriers. The Company provides a range of paperboard packaging solutions for various end-use markets, such as beverage, including beer, soft drinks, energy drinks, water and juices; food, including cereal, desserts, frozen, refrigerated and microwavable foods and pet foods; prepared foods, including snacks, quick-serve foods for restaurants and food service products, and household products, including dishwasher and laundry detergent, healthcare and beauty aids, and tissues and papers. The Company produces paperboard at its mills; prints, cuts and glues (converts) the paperboard into fol! ding cartons at its converting plants; and designs and manufactures packaging machines that package bottles and cans and, to a lesser extent, non-beverage consumer products. The Company also installs its packaging machines at customer plants and provides support, service and performance monitoring of the machines. The Company offers a variety of laminated, coated and printed packaging structures that are produced from its coated unbleached kraft (CUK), coated-recycled board (CRB), kraft paper and uncoated-recycled board (URB), as well as other grades of paperboard that are purchased from third-party suppliers. The Company manufactures corrugated medium and kraft paper for sale in the open market and internal use.

Flexible Packaging

The Company�� flexible packaging segment includes multi-wall bags, plastics, labels, and the Pine Bluff, AR mill. The Company is a supplier of flexible packaging in North America. Its products include multi-wall bags, shingle wrap, plastic bags and film for building materials (such as ready-mix concrete), retort pouches (such as meals ready to go), medical test kits, batch inclusion bags and film. Its end-markets include food and agriculture, building and industrial materials, chemicals, minerals, pet foods, and pharmaceutical products. Approximately 27% of the plastics produced are consumed internally. The Company�� label business focuses on heat transfer labels and lithographic labels. The Company operates label plants, which produce labels for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, automotive, household and industrial products, detergents, and the health and beauty markets.

The Company competes with MeadWestvaco Corporation and Klabin Company.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY)

Rigid Packaging

The Company�� Rigid Packaging business consists of containers, foodservice items, house wares, closures, over caps, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The end uses for these products are consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverage, retail mass marketers, healthcare, personal care and household chemical. The Company manufactures a collection of container products. The Company produces 32 ounce or thermoformed polypropylene (PP) drink cups and offers a product line with sizes ranging from 12 to 52 ounces. The Company�� products of house wares market is focused on producing semi-disposable plastic home and party and plastic garden products. The Company produces closures and over caps across several of its product lines, including continuous-thread and child-resistant closures, as well as aerosol over caps. The Company also provides a range of custom closure ! solutions including fitments and plugs for medical applications, cups and spouts for liquid laundry detergent, and dropper bulb assemblies for medical and personal care applications.

The Company competes with Airlite, Letica, Polytainers, Silgan, Aptar Group and Reynolds.

Engineered Materials

The Company offers range of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) meat film and agricultural film. Berry�� products are used primarily to wrap fresh meats, poultry and produce for supermarket applic! ations. I! n addition, the Company offers a line of boxed products for food service and retail sales. Berry sells trash-can liners and food bags for offices, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, municipalities and manufacturing facilities. The Company also sells products under the Big City, Hospi-Tuff, Plas-Tuff, Rhino-X and Steel-Flex brands. The Company produces both hand and machine-wrap stretch films, which are used by end users to wrap products and packages for storage and shipping. It sells stretch film products to distributors and retail and industrial end users under the MaxTech and PalleTech brands.

The Company competes with AEP, Sigma and 3M.

Flexible Packaging

The Company supplies component and packaging films used for personal care applications. Berry is a converter of printed bags, pouches and roll stock. Its manufacturing base includes integrated extrusion that combines with printing, laminating, bagmaking, Innolok and laser-score converting processes. The Company is a supplier of printed film products for the fresh bakery, tortilla and frozen vegetable markets with brands, such as SteamQuick Film, Freshview bags and Billboard. The Company manufactures specialty coated and laminated produ! cts for a! range of packaging applications. Its products are sold under the MarvelGuard and MarvelSeal brands and are sold to converters who transform them into finished goods.

The Company competes with Printpak, Tredegar and Bemis.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
One of the most famous scenes in the cult classic, the Graduate, was when Mr. McGuire�took Dustin Hoffman�� character aside and said�"Ben, I want to say one word to you, just one word: Plastics"; but what about the Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE: BERY) and its performance verses that of the�iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV), iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: IWR) and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IJR)? I should mention that plastics and the Berry Plastics Group was not the place to be yesterday as the stock took a tumble on reduced guidance.

10 Best Paper Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Vidrala SA (VID.MC)

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Beer Man: Draft Makkoli is appealing rice wine

Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.

This week: Draft Makkoli

Kooksoondang Brewing Co., Seoul, South Korea

www.ksdb.co.kr/english/main.asp

This week we venture into unusual territory with a rice wine product from South Korea.

Why write about this in a beer column? The beverage we call wine is fermented from fruit. Rice is a grain, just like barley and wheat, so technically it would be more correct to classify fermented rice beverages as beer.

My bottle of Draft Makkoli was part of a Christmas package from my Texan brother. It came in a 750ml plastic bottle with a cloudy, milky-white liquid inside.

After about a month in the refrigerator, the contents had settled, leaving about an inch of the cloudy residue on the bottom; the rest of beverage was fairly clear. However, I followed the instructions on the bottle to shake gently before pouring.

The makkoli looked a lot like horchata, that creamy, delicious non-alcoholic Mexican rice beverage. Not as solid a white as milk and not as thick. The main aroma I noticed was yeast, but not overwhelming or unpleasant — more like from bread beginning to rise.

Flavorwise, it was not like beer. It had a citrusy flavor with slight sweetness and carbonation, mixed with a milk-like rich body. It reminded me of 7-Up mixed with milk, or Red Bull. Some of the yeast flavor was present in the background.

I can't say I would be excited about drinking makkoli on a regular basis — soda-type alcoholic beverages aren't my bag. However, it was an excellent accompaniment to my dinner of orange sesame chicken and bean cellophane noodles. The sweetness went well with the orange sesame sauce, the slight carbonation helped cut the thickness of the glaze and the creaminess countered the hot pepper.

I've read that makkoli is a growing trend among the youth in Asia and I can see why. Unlike sake, which also is called a rice wine, makkoli, at 6% ABV, has a much lower alcohol c! ontent (sake is usually about 15% or more ABV) and is slightly carbonated.

As an alcoholic beverage, it may technically be a beer, but its characteristics are not like a beer, wine or cider. It's worth trying, especially with Asian cuisine.

Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns Click here.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Goldman: Aluminum Looks Good; By the Way, We Own Warehouses Full of the Stuff

An analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) has raised its price target on Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) from $12 to $15, a jump of about 36% from the stock's trading price of around $11 and change late Tuesday afternoon. The research note is cited a Barron's:

We expect [Alcoa] to see multiple expansion as investors gain more confidence in the demand growth for automotive aluminum sheet, growing aerospace demand, and its continued cost cutting initiative in the upstream businesses. We believe automotive aluminum will be the fastest growing market for metals over the next several years, where Alcoa has a leadingposition in the US.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has reduced the weight of its F-150 pickup by 700 pounds using aluminum instead of steel for some body panels, and Goldman's analyst thinks other carmakers will follow suit. That is good news for Alcoa, but it's also good news for Goldman.

Goldman owns a Detroit-based warehouse operator, Metro International, that has been the subject of complaints from aluminum users like The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) which filed a complaint with the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2011 alleging that Metro brought aluminum into its warehouses and then refused to let the stuff leave, which caused delays in delivery, higher storage charges, and, ultimately, higher prices for aluminum.

Last July Goldman agreed to swap spot shipments for its warehoused aluminum after Coca-Cola and MillerCoors again complained of difficulty in getting aluminum shipped from the warehouse. In late December Goldman announced an increase of $0.03 per metric ton effective in April, from $0.48 to $0.51, to store aluminum in its warehouse.

Goldman's shares are up more than 2% late in the day Tuesday at $164.62 in a 52-week range of $137.29 to $181.13.

Alcoa's shares are up about 2.6% at $11.35 in a 52-week range of $7.63 to $12.32.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

An American Casino Reaps Profits on Asian Soil

The casino industry can be one of the most rewarding business segments for investors seeking high returns on capital and long-term profits. Investment gurus Andreas Halvorsen (Trades, Portfolio) and Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio) recently bought fair amounts of Las Vegas Sand Corp (LVS) shares, probably due to the company's strong performance in the past years. Sand Corp is the world's largest operator of integrated resorts, with a blend of casino, hotel, entertainment, food, beverage, retail and convention centre operations. Some of the most famous company-owned venues include Sands Macao, Venetian Macao, Sands Cotai Central and Four Seasons Hotel Macao in China, as well as the Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore and the Palazzo Las Vegas in the U.S.

The Asian Treasure Hunt

One of Sand Corp's key growth catalysts is and continues to be its presence in the Asian market, which generates 85% of the company's total revenue. China's Macao Cotai Strip has been the firm's focus for several years now, and given it's the only place in China where gambling is legal, holding a market position is crucial. Today, Sands is one of six companies licensed casino operators, and owns 50% of all gambling tables on the Strip. Furthermore, the mass market growth is significant for the company's profitability, as Sands China receives 75% of its cash flow from this segment. Projections for the future years are bright, as 2013 marked a 30% growth of the mass market, compared to the VIP market, which only registered 5% to 10% growth. Also, the company's 25% market share of the Macao Strip will grow even more after 2015, when the Parisian resort opens its doors.

Sand Corp's successful resort operations have not only assigned it a narrow moat rating, but also positively positions the firm to receive casino licenses in countries like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where gambling will be legalized in the near future. In fact, the company benefits from its market share in the Singapore duopoly, through the Marina Bay Sands resort venue. With 34% gaming taxes, compared to Macao's 39%, the Singapore operation is the company's fastest growing business segment, and will continue to drive excessive EBITDA margins of 53.6% until 2018, when the casino license expires. Additionally, the firm's market share in Asia sets it apart from competitors like MGM Resorts International (MGM) or Monarch Casino & Resort Inc. (MCRI)

Risks and Valuation

Although the Chinese government will maintain its gambling restrictions in the mainland over the next decade, Sand Corp's market share and leverage in fixed costs will continue to riel in strong revenue growth from this region. Fiscal 2013 marked a 24.80% revenue increase ($13.8 billion) and operating margins continue to expand at the same pace. Despite the inherent risk of an economic slowdown in Asia or a recession in the U.S., which could put a halt to leisure spending, the company is well prepared to balance out any short-term losses. The casino operator's EBITDA growth of 65.30%, for example, is an impressive result when compared to the industry's average of 4.90%.

Looking forward, earnings per share are expected to continue their fast-paced upward trend, having jumped from $1.56 in 2011 to $2.79 at the end of fiscal 2013. The 21.6% return on equity, as well as 1.80% dividend yield should also be attractive to shareholders and future investors. Although Las Vegas Sand Corp is currently trading at a 24% price premium relative to the industry average of 22.60x trailing earnings, I feel very bullish about this firm's long term profitability, given its strong market position in Asia.

Disclosure: Vanina Egea holds no position in any stocks mentioned.

Also check out: Andreas Halvorsen Undervalued Stocks Andreas Halvorsen Top Growth Companies Andreas Halvorsen High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Andreas Halvorsen keeps buying
About the author:Vanina EgeaA fundamental analyst at Lone Tree Analytics

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Sunday, February 9, 2014

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now

With consumer confidence falling in April and gross domestic product in the first quarter coming in lower than expected, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) was lucky to eke out any gains at all today. It was the fourth gain in five days for blue chips, which had their worst week of the year last week but added back more than 1% as a flurry of earnings helped the comeback. The Dow ended up 11 points, or less than 0.1%, on Friday to close at 14,712.�

Wall Street thought Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ ) shares looked undervalued today, and even after adding 1.9% Friday, shares traded at less than six times forward earnings. Rebounding from losses yesterday, HP posted the highest gains in the index today. In recent years the company has felt the brutal impact of the PC market decline, and its stock took the biggest hit in the index last year. So while the bullishness of 2013 -- the stock is up more than 40% year to date -- reflects some optimism about CEO Meg Whitman's turnaround efforts, the stock is still rallying from fairly depressed levels.�

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 Dan Carroll]
Now fully into earnings season, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI ) is having a hard time getting things going today. The index has hung flat for most of the day as blue-chip stocks have remained mixed between risers and losers. McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) sure hasn't helped after the company's earnings report sent the fast-food giant's shares tumbling. Let's catch up on all the action around the Dow you need to know.
[By Tom Taulli]
Competition: Yum certainly has many tough rivals, such as Domino�� (DPZ), Chipotle (CMG), Chick-fil-A and McDonald�� (MCD). And competition in the Chinese market has been heating up as well. Discos, a Taiwan-based fried chicken operator, has been getting lots of traction — with more than 2,000 stores in China. There has also been pressure from Papa John’s (PZZA) and Bellagio Caf茅.
[By Dan Caplinger]
A look at the stocks that are leading the Dow lower today reveals the contribution higher interest rates have made to the overall market's declines. Despite strong consumer confidence, you'll find consumer giants McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) , Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ ) , and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO ) all among the worst performers in the Dow today, with losses of more than 2%. Ordinarily, you'd expect these defensively oriented stocks to perform well in a downturn, as their businesses enjoy largely stable demand from loyal customers who rely on having those products regardless of economic conditions.
[By Chris Hill]
Last Friday, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD ) CEO Bob Thompson told CNBC that McDonald's may consider serving breakfast throughout the day. Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX ) and Panera (NASDAQ: PNRA ) have racked success with their breakfast offerings. Will McDonald's be able to take a bite out of the competition with all-day breakfast offerings? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts talk about the business of breakfast.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Colgate-Palmolive Company(CL)

Colgate-Palmolive Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer products worldwide. It offers oral care products, including toothpaste, toothbrushes, and mouth rinses, as well as dental floss and pharmaceutical products for dentists and other oral health professionals; personal care products, such as liquid hand soap, shower gels, bar soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioners; and home care products comprising laundry and dishwashing detergents, fabric conditioners, household cleaners, bleaches, dishwashing liquids, and oil soaps. The company offers its oral, personal, and home care products under the Colgate Total, Colgate Max Fresh, Colgate 360 Advisors' Opinion:

[By Eric Volkman]
It's one of the steadiest dividend payers on the market, and it's continuing to fly level. Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ) has declared a fresh quarterly common stock dividend, which is to be $0.34 per share, paid on August 15 to shareholders of record as of July 23. That amount matches the firm's previous distribution; this was paid in May. Prior to that, Colgate-Palmolive handed out $0.31 per share.
[By Demitrios Kalogeropoulos]
Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL )
Colgate's shares are trading well below the $62 high they hit just last month. The consumer goods company is heavily levered to international sales, with more than 80% of its business coming from outside the U.S. and more than half coming from emerging markets.
[By Dan Caplinger]
Lately, Johnson & Johnson has presented two different faces to investors. On one hand, the company has faced the challenge of dealing with a weak consumer-products business, as multiple recalls and close regulatory oversight of its production facilities have exacerbated J&J's problems. With its more focused consumer-goods business, Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL ) has worked harder at taking advantage of international growth opportunities than many of its rivals, and Colgate's strong overseas sales, in comparison to J&J's international weakness, show the effectiveness of that strategy. In particular, Asia has been a focus point for Colgate, with revenue from the region having risen 9% year over year compared with less than 3% growth overall. Moreover, Latin America represents Colgate's biggest region for sales, with more than half again the revenue its U.S. segment produces.
[By Dividends4Life]
Memberships and Peers: KMB is a member of the S&P 500, a Dividend Aristocrat, a member of the Broad Dividend Achievers��Index and a Dividend Champion. The company's peer group includes: The company's peer group includes: Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) with a 3.1% yield, Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) with a 2.3% yield, and Clorox Corporation (CLX) with a 3.4% yield.

Hot Growth Companies To Invest In 2015: International Business Machines Corporation(IBM)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) provides information technology (IT) products and services worldwide. Its Global Technology Services segment provides IT infrastructure and business process services, including strategic outsourcing, process, integrated technology, and maintenance services, as well as technology-based support services. The company?s Global Business Services segment offers consulting and systems integration, and application management services. Its Software segment offers middleware and operating systems software, such as WebSphere software to integrate and manage business processes; information management software for database and enterprise content management, information integration, data warehousing, business analytics and intelligence, performance management, and predictive analytics; Tivoli software for identity management, data security, storage management, and datacenter automation; Lotus software for collaboration, messaging, and so cial networking; rational software to support software development for IT and embedded systems; business intelligence software, which provides querying and forecasting tools; SPSS predictive analytics software to predict outcomes and act on that insight; and operating systems software. Its Systems and Technology segment provides computing and storage solutions, including servers, disk and tape storage systems and software, point-of-sale retail systems, and microelectronics. The company?s Global Financing segment provides lease and loan financing to end users and internal clients; commercial financing to dealers and remarketers of IT products; and remanufacturing and remarketing services. It serves financial services, public, industrial, distribution, communications, and general business sectors. The company was formerly known as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. and changed its name to International Business Machines Corporation in 1924. IBM was founded in 1910 and is based in Armonk, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Monica Gerson]
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) reported downbeat third-quarter revenue. IBM shares declined 6.19% to $175.17 in the after-hours trading session.
[By Editor , Dividend Growth Investor]
For example, using the Standard & Poor’s,�I looked at the top ten companies in the index as of 1983:
YEAR COMPANY % MARKET % OF 8312 Int’l Bus. Machines (IBM) 1 $74,346 6.09% 8312 Exxon Corp (XOM) 2 $32,114 2.63% 8312 General Electric (GE) 3 $26,626 2.18% 8312 General Motors (GM) 4 $23,414 1.92% 8312 American Tel & Tel (T) (new) 5 $17,234 1.41% 8312 Stand’d Oil,Indiana 6 $14,848 1.22% 8312 Schlumberger, Ltd (SLB) 7 $14,503 1.19% 8312 Sears, Roebuck 8 $13,150 1.08% 8312 Eastman Kodak 9 $12,603 1.03% 8312 duPont(EI)deNemours 10 $12,405 1.02%
Thirty years later, only two of these companies went bankrupt (Eastman Kodak (EKDKQ) and General Motors (GM)), while the rest did well for their shareholders. The past 30 years were a tumultuous period for all of the companies however, as it was characterized by a flurry of mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations and changing of business focus.
[By Dan Caplinger]
TIBCO Software (NASDAQ: TIBX ) will release its quarterly report on Thursday, and investors have looked increasingly uncertain about whether the enterprise infrastructure and IT integration software maker can continue to produce solid share-price gains. Even though the company has managed to fend off much larger rivals IBM (NYSE: IBM ) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL ) thus far, TIBCO has a long way to go before it can ultimately declare victory over them and the rest of its competition.

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own 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 Reuters]
Steven Senne/AP BOSTON -- Companies that help Target process payments could face millions of dollars in fines and costs resulting from the unprecedented data breach that struck the retailer during the holiday shopping season. Investigators are still sorting through just how thieves compromised about 40 million payment cards and the information of about 70 million Target (TGT) customers. But people who have reviewed past data breaches believe Target's partners could face consumer lawsuits and fines that payment networks such as Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) often levy after cybersecurity incidents. Target's partners "have deep pockets and are intimately involved in certain aspects of how Target gets paid," said Jamie Pole, a cybersecurity consultant in Asheboro, N.C., who works for government agencies and the financial industry. Fines and settlement costs could reach into the millions of dollars for individual companies, he said, though much will depend on how the ultimate liability for the breach is determined. Boston attorney Cynthia Larose of Mintz Levin said Target would likely seek to add its partners as defendants to lawsuits already filed over the breach. "These class-action lawsuits start to bring everyone in at some point," she said. After its systems were penetrated by hackers in the mid-2000s, retailer TJX Cos. (TJX) agreed to pay up to $40.9 million to cover fraud costs in a settlement with Visa. Visa also issued penalties of $880,000 against Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) of Ohio, which processed transactions for TJX. Asked about the business relationships and possible costs, Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation and pending suits. A Visa spokeswoman declined to comment. A MasterCard spokesman said the company couldn't discuss an ongoing investigation. Handling Target Transactions Several companies are involved in any purchase from a store such as Target. A bank issues the consumer's payment card

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Philip Morris International Inc(PM)

Philip Morris International Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products in markets outside of the United States. Its international product brand line comprises Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White. The company also offers its products under the A Mild, Dji Sam Soe, and A Hijau in Indonesia; Diana in Italy; Optima and Apollo-Soyuz in the Russian Federation; Morven Gold in Pakistan; Boston in Colombia; Belmont, Canadian Classics, and Number 7 in Canada; Best and Classic in Serbia; f6 in Germany; Delicados in Mexico; Assos in Greece; and Petra in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It operates primarily in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America. The company is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By David Sterman]

4. Phillip Morris (NYSE: PM) After shares of this tobacco giant pulled back from the mid-$90s in the spring to $89 by early August, director Graham Mackay thought he spotted value, plunking down more than $1.1 million of his money to buy shares. He should have waited, as shares have since fallen below $84.
[By Jon C. Ogg]
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) has experienced more than impressive growth in both its share price and its profits in the past four years. Lately its gains have petered out. The problem is that much of that growth has come from a few countries in Asia, and if one analyst report is accurate, there will be little to no growth from those areas ahead. Nomura Securities is downgrading Philip Morris to a Reduce rating from Neutral, but for all practical purposes it is a Sell rating. The firm’s $76 price target suggests downside of more than $10 ahead.
[By Holly LaFon]
GuruFocus: You��e buying a lot of global brands, and they all had in common emerging market growth, like Proctor and Gamble (PG), Pepsi (PEP), Philip Morris (PM), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ). Is that was a conscious investment theme or is that a coincidence?
[By Sean Williams]
Russia's move could pose a threat to global cigarette producers such as Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM ) and British American Tobacco. Although both tobacco producers operate around the globe, a dramatic shift in curbing smoking from the world's third-largest tobacco consumer is bound to sting. In Philip Morris' case, according to Trefis, Russia accounted for approximately 6% of its total revenue last year, and the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region accounted for roughly one-quarter of sales.�

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Chevron Corporation(CVX)

Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in petroleum, chemicals, mining, power generation, and energy operations worldwide. It operates in two segments, Upstream and Downstream. The Upstream segment involves in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas; processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas; transportation of crude oil through pipelines; and transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as holds interest in a gas-to-liquids project. The Downstream segment engages in the refining of crude oil into petroleum products; marketing of crude oil and refined products primarily under the Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex brand names; transportation of crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car; and manufacture and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives. It a lso produces and markets coal and molybdenum; and holds interests in 13 power assets with a total operating capacity of approximately 3,100 megawatts, as well as involves in cash management and debt financing activities, insurance operations, real estate activities, energy services, and alternative fuels and technology business. Chevron Corporation has a joint venture agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation. The company was formerly known as ChevronTexaco Corp. and changed its name to Chevron Corporation in May 2005. Chevron Corporation was founded in 1879 and is based in San Ramon, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Alyssa Oursler]
If you’re looking to dig up a solid dividend, look no further than oil and gas giant Chevron (CVX). The Dependable Dividend stock has been paying a dividend for an jaw-dropping 101 years, and has increased that payout by over 185% in the past decade alone.
[By Dan Caplinger]
But weakness extended throughout the commodities-related Dow stocks. Oil giants Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) and ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM ) are both down more than 1.5% on fears that China's slowdown will cascade throughout the global economy, reducing overall levels of industrial activity and thereby removing key support for the relatively high oil prices that have persisted even through the sluggish economic recovery of the past several years. Meanwhile, Alcoa (NYSE: AA ) has dropped 1.5%, following its typical pattern of tracking China's economic health. Yet in the longer term, if a slowdown further weakens aluminum prices, then it could perhaps break the backs of Chinese aluminum producers that have contributed to the glut of supply on the market.
[By Dan Carroll]
Big oil rival Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) isn't having much of a day to remember, either, as shares have fallen 0.9% so far. The company did post good news today, however: Chevron won a lawsuit�against the U.S. over a dispute surrounding its oil fields near Bakersfield, California. The companies have battled for years over the split between Chevron's and the Department of Energy's stakes in the fields. While Chevron's still disputing the DoE's share, the U.S. will have to reimburse the company for 42% of its legal fees for a two-year period.
[By Reuters]
Richard Drew/APA board overlooking the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows an intraday number above 1,600 for the S&P 500 on Friday. A big gain in the job market lifted the stock market to a record high. NEW YORK -- The Dow and S&P 500 advanced to all-time closing highs on Friday, with major indexes jumping 1 percent after an unexpectedly strong April jobs report eased concerns about an economic slowdown. The S&P closed above 1,600 and the Dow briefly traded above 15,000 for the first time as stocks extended this year's rally. Bellwether companies, including Chevron Corp. (CVX), Boeing Co. (BA) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), reached 52-week highs. The Russell 2000 stock index of mid- and small cap companies also hit a record, confirming the broadness of the rally. About 70 percent of stocks on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq ended in positive territory. Non-farm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, a four-year low, from 7.6 percent, the government said. In addition, hiring was much stronger than previously thought in February and March. Investors welcomed the gains after weeks of disappointing data, including tepid manufacturing reports, that suggested the economic recovery was losing steam. "We were all wringing our hands over the past month but this alleviates fears about a sharp spring slowdown," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at Charles Schwab in Denver. The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) was up 140.61 points, or 0.95 percent, at 14,972.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^GSPC) was up 16.63 points, or 1.04 percent, at 1,614.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMPX) was up 38.01 points, or 1.14 percent, at 3,378.63. Both the Dow and S&P ended at all-time closing highs. For the week, the Dow rose 1.8, the S&P gained 2 percent and the Nasdaq rose 3 percent in its biggest weekly climb since the first week of the year. Sectors ti

Top 10 Blue Chip Stocks To Own Right Now: Apple Inc.(AAPL)

Apple Inc., together with subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, as well as sells related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications worldwide. The company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, retail stores, direct sales force, third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, it sells third-party Mac, iPhone, iPad, and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores; and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The company sells its products to consumer, small and mid-sized business, education, enterprise, government, and creative markets. As of September 25, 2010, it had 317 retail stores, including 233 stores in the United States and 84 stores internationally. The company, formerly known as Apple Computer, Inc., was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Benjamin Pimentel]
Apple (AAPL) �rose 2.7% to close at $566.32 after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $650 from $540, speculating that more institutional money will move back into to the stock in 2014.

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Mixed As Twitter Turns Red

Toward the end of trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.01 percent to 16,482.38 while the NASDAQ declined 0.30 percent to 4,154.96. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.03 percent to 1,841.37.

Top Headline
Yesterday, Textron (NYSE: TXT) agreed to buy acquire Beechcraft for around $1.4 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2014. In 2013, Beechcraft has around $1.8 billion in expected revenue.

Equities Trading UP
Shares of Sprint (NYSE: S) were up on Friday's session, gaining 8.28 percent to $10.78 following some strong options activity to the bullish side.

Molycorp (NYSE: MCP) was up as well, gaining 13.93 percent to $5.48 as traders dove into more volatile names on Friday's session.

Organovo Holdings (NYSE: ONVO) was also up, gaining 2.54 percent to $9.28. The rise in the shares may be attributed to Thursday's Computerworld Article on 3D printed liver coming in 2014.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) were down 11.59 percent to $64.92 after Macquarie downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform. Textura (NYSE: TXTR) tumbled 5.24 percent to $29.66. Textura shares tumbled 17.06 percent yesterday after Citron Research issued a scathing report on the company midway through the morning Thursday.

American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) was also down, falling 4.40 percent to $24.98 as traders looked exit the airline following its recent rally.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.67 percent to $100.22, while gold traded up 0.15 percent to $1,214.90. Silver traded up 1.54 percent Friday to $20.03, while copper fell 0.47 percent to $3.38.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 0.82 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index climbed 1.39 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 1.06 percent and the French CAC 40 jumped 1.40 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.85 percent.

Economics

US crude oil inventories fell by 4.7 million barrels for the week ending December 20, the Energy Information Administration reported. However, analysts were projecting a drop of 2.3 million barrels. Gasoline inventories dropped by 600,000 barrels, versus analysts' expectations for a 1.2 million barrels gain.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Commodities Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Case for Strategic Income

Following a 30-year bull market in bonds, investors need to prepare for a long-term rise in rates, cautions Anton Bayer. The CEO of Up Capital looks at this transition and highlights several strategies and positions for the next stage of the interest rate cycle.

Steve Halpern: We're here today with Anton Bayer, Founder and CEO of Up Capital Management. How are you doing, Anton?

Anton Bayer: I'm doing great, thanks very much, Steven.

Steve Halpern: First, could you tell our listeners a little about Up Capital Management?

Anton Bayer: Yes, we're a registered investment advisory firm with about $160 million under management and we manage four model portfolios that are comprised of individual stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. They are risk-based, so there are four of them; income, balance, growth and income, and growth model portfolios.

Steve Halpern: Now—as a smaller firm—you mentioned that you're not one of the big guys and that gives you some added flexibility. Can you tell listeners a little about how that allows you to react a little more quickly to markets?

Anton Bayer: One of the key aspects that large firms are handicapped with is they have an investment policy that dictates all of the advisors as to how to manage money and, for the most part, it requires the advisors keeping the investors in the risk category that, when they sign the original application, that is what they need to stay in, regardless of market conditions.

If you sign up with a large firm and you identify yourself as a growth and income investor, you will stay predominantly in an overweighted equity position and the advisor doesn't have, typically, the flexibility to increase cash positions or reduce risk, even in situations like 2008, and 2000, and 2002, because the compliance requirements are to keep the client in the category that they sign up for.

As a smaller firm, we write our own ADV—a disclosure form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission—and our own investment policy.

So, in our ADV, we have established that all four portfolios can go 100% to cash anytime, so even if you're in our growth portfolio, if it is a high-risk scenario, as we believe it is, we can increase the cash position, which, even though it typically doesn't represent a growth portfolio, in our opinion, it is the best allocation at the time.

Steve Halpern: Let's look at the current environment. With the Fed beginning to taper, you see some challenges ahead for Janet Yellen. Could you expand on that?

Anton Bayer: Yes. This market has been so sensitive to Federal Reserve monetary policy since 2007, on both sides of the equation, which adds to our level of confidence that it is a key barometer and influencer to the market.

The best recent example is 2012, when Ben Bernanke ended QE2 June 30, immediately, the first day of the market in July and all the way through August, the market fluctuated significantly and, in the first four days of August, fluctuated 2,000 points in that first week.

It wasn't until Ben Bernanke introduced what we now have as quantitative easing, in October, that the market resumed the rally that we are in right now.

Our concern is that the emerging markets are exposing the dependency on Central Bank monetary policy, as the feds continue to slowly wind down and taper their quantitative easing, and then that is going to eventually start bringing the exposure into the US economy, as they continue tapering from $85 billion at $10 billion a month, continue reducing that.

Currently, we have an economy that is growing a meager 2.5% to 3%. We still have a high 7% unemployment and we've had trillions of dollars invested from the Federal Reserve and the federal government index, in spending and stimulus, and we have a lackluster economy.

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