General Electric: No More Buybacks If Alstom Bid Succeeds?

Last night news broke that General Electric (GE) had made a formal bid for Alstom’s (ALSMY) thermal, renewable, and grid businesses. Of course, Siemens (SI) has a month to make a bid of its own, but General Electric is currently sitting right where it wants to be.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Nomura’s Shannon O’Callaghan and team asses the impact of General Electric’s bid for Alstom:

The $13.5B enterprise value represents 7.9x standalone EBITDA and 4.6x after $1.2B of synergies that GE expects (~6% of sales). Alstom's companion announcement and conference call indicates that GE will absorb EUR 0.9B of net liabilities, including EUR 1.2B of pension liabilities, and will also take on potential FCFA litigation payments. If we assume EUR 1B for litigation liability and include the pension and other net liability, we estimate the implied EV/EBITDA multiples would be 9.4x pre-synergies and 5.5x post synergies. We estimate the post synergy ROIC's at 12% before these liabilities and 10% after (assuming 35% tax rate although GE will likely achieve a better rate). The $1.2B synergy target is to be realized by year 5 and strikes us as achievable. GE indicated that this transaction effectively completes their M&A for 2014 and 2015, as well as noted that, aside from the buyback/share exchange related to the Retail Finance transaction, additional buyback will only be in an amount required to offset employee plan dilution.

Shares of General Electric have gained 0.3% to $26.83 at 11:18 a.m. today, while Alstom’s ADR has risen 2.8% to $4.04 and Siemens has advanced 2.1% to $131.60.

It’s Time to Double Down on Yum! Brands

Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM  ) looks poised to increase sales at all three of its brands: KFC is bringing back the Double Down, Taco Bell has a new breakfast menu, and Pizza Hut has WingStreet. Yum! Brands is certainly not afraid to try new ideas, which illustrates management's ability to overcome adversity, especially after the challenges the company faced in China over the last few quarters.

Considering that Yum! Brands has more than 40,000 restaurants globally compared to McDonald's (NYSE: MCD  ) 35,000 locations, can these new menu items help Yum! Brands catch up to McDonald's in total sales?

Solid first-quarter results
In the first quarter, Yum! Brands posted earnings per share of $0.87, $0.02 better than expected and $0.17 higher than last year's first quarter. While total revenue rose 7.1% year over year to $2.7 billion, it was still lower than the $6.7 billion in revenue that McDonald's recorded in the same quarter.

Source: Yum! Brands

In terms of same-store sales growth, the China division led the way with a 9% increase. KFC saw a 1% rise in same-store sales; Pizza Hut recorded a 2% decrease, and Taco Bell saw a 1% decline in same-store sales.

McDonald's first quarter was not that great
For McDonald's, the first quarter was a disappointment. Even though same-store sales rose 0.5% globally, they were down 1.7% in the U.S. First-quarter earnings per share were $0.03 lower than expected and $0.05 lower than last year. Total revenue was just 1% higher than last year.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

McDonald's expects April's global same-store sales to be positive as the weather improves. McDonald's blamed the weather for the sales weakness it experienced in the first quarter. This year, McDonald's plans to open 1,500 new restaurants.

New menu items expected to boost sales for Yum! Brands
Yum! Brands is counting on new menu items from KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut to boost sales. If the new menu items can drive traffic into its stores, Yum! Brands hopes to capture sales that ordinarily would have gone to a competitor like McDonald's.

For KFC, the company is looking for the KFC Double Down to boost sales like the item did when it was first introduced back in 2010. In its first month, KFC sold more than 10 million Double Downs. The Double Down is certainly a unique menu item. It consists of bacon, Monterey Jack cheese, and the Colonel's sauce between two 100% white meat KFC chicken fillets.

Source: KFC

Pizza Hut is looking for new Garlic Parmesan Pizza and Buffalo wings from WingStreet to increase sales. I think WingStreet has potential for Pizza Hut, and I discussed the possibilities in "Can Pizza Hut's WingStreet Take Down Buffalo Wild Wings? Here's Why It Matters." The new Garlic Parmesan Pizza comes in three distinct flavors for $10 -- Chicken Bacon Tomato, Roasted Veggie, and Five Cheese.

Taco Bell's focus has been on its new breakfast menu and going head-to-head with McDonald's during breakfast hours. The new breakfast items include Cinnabon Delights, Waffle Tacos, Breakfast Burritos, A.M. Crunchwraps, and A.M. Grilled Tacos. Taco Bell has also launched an aggressive marketing campaign to raise awareness. According to Yum! Brands CEO David Novak, Taco Bell's breakfast is "off to a great start."

Source: Taco Bell

What about McDonald's menu?
To fend off the challenge from Taco Bell and its new breakfast menu, McDonald's offered a free small McCafe coffee and advertised the McGriddle to go up against Taco Bell's Waffle Taco. A McGriddle consists of two small pancakes made with maple flavoring; it comes in three varieties -- Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McGriddles, Sausage McGriddles, and Sausage, Egg, and Cheese McGriddles. The big advantages that McDonald's has during the breakfast hours are that the chain has been running its breakfast menu the longest, and McDonald's has become part of the daily routine for most consumers. This is the biggest challenge Taco Bell faces and explains the aggressive advertising push.

How do shares compare?

 

Market Cap

Forward P/E

1-Year Return

Dividend Yield

Yum! Brands	$34.02 B	18.20	14.30%	1.90%
McDonald's	$98.13 B	15.84	(1.87%)	3.20%

Source: Yahoo! Finance

Foolish final thoughts
I like the moves Yum! Brands and its CEO David Novak are making. He knows that innovative menu items are needed to help drive traffic, and he is focused on boosting sales at KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut. This year, he expects to deliver 20% earnings-per share growth. With shares trading at 18 times next year's earnings, I think shares of Yum! Brands are set to deliver for shareholders.

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Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (ABX): Goldman Says to Bet on $21

After getting off to an up and down start to 2014, the time to buy Gold and Silver might be near according to Goldman Sachs. Analyst, Andrew Quail sees four key reasons for the sector call, "After underperforming the SPX by 21% since September 2013, gold and silver equities now appear more fairly valued, offering an average 7% total upside. We raise our coverage view to Neutral as we believe (1) more responsible capital allocation, (2) successful cost cutting initiatives, (3) a refocus on maximizing free cash flow, and (4) sound strategic portfolio optimization should improve the positioning of our companies offsetting our below-consensus outlook for commodity prices (we forecast $1,200/oz for gold from 2015 onwards)."

[Related -What Gold Miners Are Thinking Today]

While Quail thinks of the group as Neutral, he points to Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) as a "Buy," up from "Neutral" saying, "[Barrick] has actively shrunk to profitability over the past twelve months, focusing on its key FCF generating operations and divesting non-core strategic assets. Following the equity raise in 2013, we believe the company's financial flexibility has significantly improved."

That improvement should drive ABX to a price-target of $21 – upside potential to target of 19.38% as of this keystroke.

Barrick Gold is engaged in the production and sale of gold, as well as related activities, such as exploration and mine development. Its producing gold mines are concentrated in three regional business units (RBU): North America, South America, and Australia Pacific. Its Copper business unit contains producing copper mines located in Chile and Zambia.

[Related -One Thing Needs To Happen Before Precious Metals Start To Rally Again]

If gold is going to price at $1,200/oz as Goldman projects, then ABX could have its work cut out trying to find the way to $21. As you can see on the chart below, Barrick Gold's share price has essentially mirrored the price of gold – no surprise there. Considering atomic #79 is trading around $1,280, the metal's price would drop at least 6.5% to get to $1,200. Based on the gold/ABX correlation witness on the chart, the ABX would have to decouple from Au to go up as gold falters, which is something that hasn't happened to a large degree in the last 15 years.

ABX does appear to offer some value on a price-to-book (P/B) and price-to-sales (P/S) basis relative to the company's recent history and industry average for P/S.

At the moment, Barrick trades at 1.49 times its book value of $11.62 per share. In the last five-years, the typical P/B ratio was 1.98. At the half-decade average, ABX would price out at $23; a few bucks ahead of Quail's target.

Meanwhile, Wall Street has been willing to pay an average of 3.3 times the gold producer's sales since 2009. Today, the street is paying 1.43 times revenue while the industry average is 3.19.

Analysts think ABX will generate sales of $10.38 billion in 2014, and $10.86 billion next year. Using the average P/S ratio for the last five-years and current sales estimates for '14 and '15, we arrive at potential price targets of $29.53 and $30.89, respectively.

At the current 1.49 times sales, the stock would be stuck under $14 for both 2014 and 2015's consensus revenue estimates.

Overall: It could be difficult for Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX) to rise to $21 if gold drops to $1,200 based on their intertwined relationship; although, to hit Goldman's $21 would not break the bank on a P/S or P/B basis. In all likelihood, ABX and gold's fate will rest on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy or a sudden geopolitical scare and subsequent flight to perceived safety. 

You Can't Be Angry About Boston Beer's Cider

Perhaps brewer Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM  ) should consider changing its name to Boston Cider. After all, with its flagship Samuel Adams brand suffering from flagging sales and its Angry Orchard cider business now owning the biggest share of the cider market, it may want to reposition its marketing.

Just recently I pointed to the potential for cider's growth, noting the expansion of the total pie to about 1% of beer sales. Obviously, it's still a tiny niche market, and for Boston Beer, which generated $163 million in total sales last quarter and $360 million over the past 12 months, cider only comprises a very tiny portion of the total, but it's already been able to overtake the industry leader.

At C&C Group's (NASDAQOTH: CCGGY  ) annual meeting earlier this month, it was revealed that when it bought the Hornsby brand two years ago, it paid $25 million and got a 20% share of the market for its efforts. It paid more than 10 times that amount, or about $300 million, for Vermont Hard Cider and its top Woodchuck brand, and got another 42% share of the market. So C&C had almost two-thirds of the cider market all to itself.

Best Growth Companies To Invest In Right Now

Yet management was forced to admit that within the past month, Boston Beer's Angry Orchard has become the No. 1 hard cider in the country, if for no other reason than because the overall size of the market has grown so much. According to the Beer Institute, the U.S. cider market was about 690,000 barrels in 2012 and expanded 88% in the first quarter alone of 2013. Even so, C&C concedes Angry Orchard's growth has simply been "phenomenal."

Indeed, last quarter Boston Beer achieved 16% growth in depletions, but that was largely the result of its Angry Orchard and Twisted Teas business. It would have been higher but was offset by declines in Samuel Adams, and all this in just a year's time since it rolled out its cider nationally.

C&C says the cider market is growing 9% to 10% globally, and we're seeing a number of other brewers also recognize the potential. Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD  ) introduced Stella Artois Cidre and Michelob Ultra Light Cider, Heineken distributes the U.K.-based Strongbow brand, and the joint venture of SABMiller and Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP  ) , Miller Coors, acquired Crispin cider.

As an alternative to wine, not beer, the brewers don't see cider as a threat to sales, yet it's this very reason that leads some analysts to think vintners have the best chance to make the biggest mark on the industry. 

Still, because brewers are pushing cider now along with their beer, it may provide a clue as to why Boston Beer has achieved its success. A few years back, it started its Freshest Beer Program that sought to have a just-in-time delivery of beer to distributors. While it ate into the brewer's profits, it benefited the distributors so they didn't have beer sitting around aging on their shelves and they were more agreeable when asked to include Sam's seasonal offerings.

Until now, the seasonals were carrying Boston Beer along, but it may be witnessing additional dividends being paid by having its Angry Orchard cider put on the shelves, too, perhaps even pushing Woodchuck and Hornsby off. And for the brewer's investors, that means there's nothing to be angry about here.

 

Seasonals, ciders, and teas have bolstered the best beer brands these days, even if they've brought with them a bit of volatility. But don't let such swings scare you out of the market. The best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of. Click here now to keep reading.

IPO Roundup: 3 companies fall in their debut

NEW YORK (AP) — A trio of newly public companies had a rough first day on the stock market Friday, joining the broader market sell-off. Shares of all three companies that had their initial public offering Friday fell.

Of the three, app maker Viggle dropped the most at 28%. The other two companies, which include a blood test developer and a stent maker, were down as much as 9%.

Here's a look at how the companies fared:

LOMBARD MEDICAL

The maker of blood vessel stents raised $55 million after pricing 5 million shares at $11 per share. At the end of March, the Irvine, Calif., company expected to raise between $54.5 million and $65.5 million by offering 3.6 million shares priced between $15 per share and $18 per share. The company plans to use the case raised to hire more people in the U.S. and for stent development. Shares of Lombard are trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "EVAR." They fell $1, or 9.1%, to close at $10.

QUOTIENT

The blood test developer raised $40 million after pricing 5 million units at $8 per unit, which includes a warrant to buy 0.8 of each share within 30 days for $8.80 per share. The units are trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "QTNTU." The units will be delisted 30 days after the IPO and shares will begin trading under the symbol "QTNT." Earlier this month, the company expected to price shares between $14 and $16, but lowered the price twice. The Edinburgh, Scotland-based company plans to use the money raised to convert a facility in Switzerland it recently rented to manufacture its products. Quotient's units fell 55 cents, or 6.9%, to close at $7.45.

VIGGLE

The New York company makes an app for mobile phones and tablets that rewards users for watching TV shows or listening to music. Users get points that they can collect and redeem for store discounts, gadgets or T-shirts. It makes money through advertising. The company raised $35 million after pricing nearly 4.4 million shares at $8 per share. In March, the! company expected to raise $50 million by offering 2.1 million shares at $23.50 per share. Viggle plans to hire more people and pay down debt with the money it raised. Shares of Viggle are trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol "VGGL." They fell $2.25, or 28.1%, to close at $5.75.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015

Friday, July 19, 2013

With nothing on the economic calendar and the Bernanke testimony now behind us, the market today will likely give an undivided attention to the earnings season. The big negative surprises from Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) will put a spotlight on the weak earnings picture of this key sector in today�� session. But having seen Q2 results from more than 20% of the S&P 500 members that combined account for more 30% of the index�� total market capitalization, we have a good enough sample of Q2 results to start judging this earnings season as well.

Total Q2 earnings are on track to reach a new all-time quarterly record and the aggregate growth rates and beat ratios are broadly in-line with what we saw in the previous quarter. But results from the Finance sector are making the aggregate numbers look better than they actually are. It�� not so reassuring outside of Finance and results from the Technology sector tell a better story of what is really unfolding on the earnings front.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: Weir Group PLC (WEIR)

The Weir Group PLC is engaged in engineering businesses. It operates in three segments: Minerals, Oil and Gas, and Power and Industrial. The Minerals segment provides slurry handling equipment and associated aftermarket support for abrasive high wear applications used in the mining and oil sands markets. The Oil & Gas segment provides products and service solutions to upstream, production, transportation, refining and related industries. The Power & Industrial segment designs and manufactures valves, pumps and turbines as well as providing specialist support services to the global power generation, industrial and oil and gas sectors. The Company�� subsidiaries include American Hydro Corporation, EnviroTech Pumpsystems Inc, Gema Industrigummi AB, Linatex Rubber Products Sdn Bhd and Mesa Manufacturing Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Weir Group Plc (WEIR) added 1.6 percent to 2,239 pence, the highest price in almost two months. The U.K.�� largest supplier of pressure pumps was raised to buy from hold at Berenberg Bank.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: Kazakhmys PLC (KAZ)

Kazakhmys PLC, along with its subsidiaries, is natural resource company focused on the production of copper. It is engaged in the production of copper and other metals as by-products, including zinc, silver and gold, and power generation. The Company�� segments are Kazakhmys Mining, which is engaged in the exploration, evaluation, development, mining and processing of mineral resources and sale of the metal products; MKM, which operates in Germany, where it manufactures copper and copper alloy semi-finished products; Kazakhmys Power, which operates in Kazakhstan, and consists of its captive power stations, the Ekibastuz GRES-1 coal-fired power station joint venture, and Kazakhmys Petroleum business, which holds a license to conduct oil and gas exploration and development activity in the East Akzhar Exploration Block in western Kazakhstan. In May 2011, the Company completed the disposal of the small Maikuben West coal mine. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Kazakhmys Plc (KAZ) tumbled 13 percent to 233.7 pence after the founders of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) and the Kazakhstan government offered to buy ENRC with cash and Kazakhmys shares in a bid that values the company at 3.04 billion pounds ($4.7 billion). ENRC slid 1.4 percent to 213.8 pence.

• [By Alexis Xydias]

  Kazakh miners ENRC (ENRC) and Kazakhmys Plc (KAZ) slid 3.7 percent to 204 pence, and 2.4 percent to 258.7 pence, respectively, as the FTSE 350 Mining Index fell for the third time this week. African Barrick Gold Plc tumbled 7.7 percent to 96 pence, a record low.

Top Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Constellation Brands Inc (STZ)

Constellation Brands, Inc. produces and markets alcoholic beverages primarily in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. It offers wine, spirits, and imported beer. The company?s Constellation Wines North America segment produces, markets, and exports wine, as well as sells various wine brands across various categories, including table wine, sparkling wine, and dessert wine. It offers wine under various brands, which include Robert Mondavi Brands, Clos du Bois, Blackstone, Estancia, Arbor Mist, Toasted Head, Simi, Black Box, Ravenswood, Rex Goliath, Kim Crawford, Franciscan Estate, Wild Horse, Ruffino, Nobilo, Mount Veeder, Inniskillin, and Jackson-Triggs; and spirits under various brands, including SVEDKA Vodka, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, and Paul Masson Grande Amber Brandy. This segment also produces and markets wine kits and beverage alcohol refreshment drinks in Canada. The company?s Crown Imports segment imports, markets, and sells beer under the Modelo Brands, which include Corona Extra, Corona Light, Coronita, Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Negra Modelo, and Victoria, as well as the St. Pauli Girl and Tsingtao brands in the United States. The company sells its products through wholesale distributors, as well as state and provincial alcoholic beverage control agencies in North America; and directly to retailers or through wholesalers and importers in New Zealand. Constellation Brands, Inc. was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Victor, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Dumortier, CFA]

  Constellation Brands earnings
  Beer and spirits company Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ  ) reported results this morning for the quarter ended May 31. Although the company "missed" with earnings per share of $0.38 (ex-items) against a consensus estimate, investors appear to be shrugging it off. That may have something to do with the fact that the company raised its guidance slightly for 2014 to $2.60-$2.90 from $2.55-$2.85 (although it should be mentioned that this increase has nothing to do with operational improvements or an improved sales forecast, but rather with lower expected interest expense).

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) reported second-quarter fiscal�2014 adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.96 on revenue of $1.46 billion. In the same period a year ago, the premium wine and beverage company reported adjusted diluted EPS of $0.50 on revenue of $698.5 million. Second-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $0.88 and $1.53 billion in revenue.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: DSW Inc (DSW)

DSW Inc. (DSW), incorporated on January 20, 1969, is a United States branded footwear and accessories specialty retailer operating 326 shoe stores in 40 states as of January 28, 2012, and dsw.com. DSW has two segments: the DSW segment, which includes the DSW stores and dsw.com sales channels, and the leased business division segment. As of January 28, 2012, it operated 326 DSW stores, dsw.com and leased departments in 261 Stein Mart stores, 74 Gordmans stores and one Frugal Fannie�� store. During the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012 (fiscal 2011), DSW opened 17DSW stores and closed two DSW stores. On May 26, 2011, Retail Ventures, Inc. (RVI) merged with and into DSW MS LLC (Merger Sub), with Merger Sub surviving the Merger and continuing as a wholly owned subsidiary of DSW. In March 2012, the Company announced the opening of its store on 34th Street in Manhattan. In September 2013, DSW Inc announced the opening of a new store in Eatontown, NJ. In October 2013, DSW Inc announced the opening of two new stores in New York City. In October 2013, DSW Inc announced the opening of a new store in Greenville, SC.

The Company offers an assortment of brand name and designer dress, casual and athletic footwear for women and men, as well as accessories through its DSW stores and dsw.com. It also offers kids' shoes exclusively on dsw.com. The Company leases stores, distribution and fulfillment centers and office facilities under various arrangements with related and unrelated parties. DSW also operates leased departments for three retailers in its leased business division segment. As of January 28, 2012, DSW supplied merchandise to 261 Stein Mart stores, 74 Gordmans stores and one Frugal Fannie�� store. During fiscal 2011, DSW added 20 leased departments and ceased operations in 36 leased departments.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Earnings Expected: From�Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), Tiffany & Co., Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), TiVo Inc., Analog Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADI), Hewlett-Packard Company.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  DSW (NYSE: DSW) shares tumbled 5.45 percent to $44.65 after the company reported weak Q3 revenue.

  21Vianet Group (NASDAQ: VNET) was down, falling 7.66 percent to $16.99 after the company reported its unaudited Q3 financial results. Pacific Crest downgraded the stock from Outperform to Sector Perform.

• [By Jeroen Jongbloed]

  Foot Locker (FL) is a retailer of athletic shoes and apparel which operates 3369 stores in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New-Zealand. On July 10th 2013, it completed its acquisition of Runners Point Group. In today's article, I will be looking at FL's revenue, net income, dividend and valuation. At certain points, I will use DSW, Inc. (DSW) and Shoe Carnival, Inc. (SCVL) for comparison.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (BKD)

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. owns and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in six segments: Retirement Centers, Assisted Living, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs)�Rental, CCRCs-Entry Fee, Innovative Senior Care, and Management Services. The Retirement Centers segment owns or leases communities comprising independent living and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income senior citizens. The Assisted Living segment owns or leases communities consisting of freestanding, multi-story communities, and freestanding single story communities, which offer housing and 24-hour assistance to mid-acuity frail and elderly residents. This segment also operates memory care communities for residents with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. The CCRCs-Rental segment owns or leases communities that offer various living arrangements and services to accommodate physical ability and health. The CCRCs-Entry Fee segment allows residents in the independent living apartment units to pay a one-time upfront entrance fee to use certain amenities and services. The Innovative Senior Care segment provides outpatient therapy, home health, and hospice services to residents of its communities and other senior living communities. The Management Services segment operates third party communities under the management agreements. As of December 31, 2012, it operated 76 retirement center communities with 14,528 units; 433 assisted living communities with 21,594 units; 27 rental CCRC communities with 6,748 units; 14 entry fee CCRC communities with 5,866 units; and 97 communities with 17,998 units for third parties. Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Lydon]

  Top holdings based on the index include Acadia Healthcare Companies (ACHC), Amsurg Corporation (AMSG), Brookdale Senior Living (BKD), Clarcor (CLC) and Community Health Systems (CYH).

• [By Sean Williams]

  One company with seemingly limitless upside potential today was senior housing operator Emeritus (NYSE: ESC  ) , which gained 35.2% after agreeing to be purchased by Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD  ) for $1.4 billion, excluding debt. Under the terms of the deal, Emeritus shareholders will receive 0.95 shares of Brookdale, and would effectively own 23% of the outstanding shares of the company once the merger is complete. Brookdale anticipates the deal being EPS neutral in 2014, and forecasts it adding $0.40 in EPS by the third year. The move certainly makes sense on paper, as cost synergies will help these two senior housing companies fight back against the expectation of declining Medicare reimbursement rates. However, over the long run, the Medicare reimbursement picture is still very cloudy, making Brookdale a riskier buy at the moment following today's announcement.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: InterDigital Inc.(IDCC)

Interdigital, Inc. engages in the design and development of digital wireless technology solutions. The company offers technology solutions for use in digital cellular and wireless products and networks, including 2G, 3G, 4G, and IEEE 802-related products and networks. It holds patents related to the fundamental technologies that enable wireless communications. The company licenses its patents to equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular and IEEE 802-related products; and licenses or sells mobile broadband modem solutions, including modem IP, know-how, and reference platforms to mobile device manufacturers, semiconductor companies, and other equipment producers that manufacture, use, and sell digital cellular products. InterDigital?s solutions are incorporated in various products comprising mobile devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, notebook computers, and wireless personal digital assistants; wireless infrastructure equipment, such as base stations; and components, dongles, and modules for wireless devices. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC) reported that certain of its subsidiaries have completed the previously announced sale of roughly 1,700 patents and patent applications to Intel Corporation for $375 million in cash.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: QuickLogic Corporation(QUIK)

QuickLogic Corporation, a fabless semiconductor company, develops and markets low power customizable semiconductor solutions for tablets, smartbooks, netbooks, cloudbooks, smartphones, datacards, and mobile enterprise products. Its solutions enable original equipment manufacturers and original design manufacturers to add new features, extend battery life, and enhance the visual experience of their handheld mobile devices. The company designs customer specific standard products, which are customer-specific solutions that include a combination of silicon solution platforms, Proven System Blocks (PSBs), customer-specific logic, software drivers, and firmware. It primarily offers two platform families, ArcticLink and PolarPro, which are standard silicon products. The company?s PSBs include Visual Enhancement Engine and Display Power Optimizer technologies; SDHD/eMMC Host Controllers; USB 2.0 On-The-Go with PHY; MDDI Client with PHY; high speed UARTs; pulse width modulators; S PI and I2C hosts, display-specific functions, such as RGB-split and frame recyclers; and Data Performance Manager for accelerated sideloading times. QuickLogic?s PSBs allows system designers to combine multiple discrete chips onto a single CSSP, simplifying design and board layout, lowering bill of materials cost, and accelerating time-to-market. The programmable fabric of the platforms is used for adding differentiated features, as well as provide flexibility to address hardware-based product requirements. The company markets its products through a direct sales force and has sales offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, and Taiwan; and has development offices in Canada and India. QuickLogic Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul McWilliams]

  QuickLogic (QUIK) has posted exceptional new product growth in 2013, and now claims Samsung as a direct customer.

  While I think the drivers that delivered the goods in 2013, will continue to work to QuickLogic's favor in 2014, the real kicker in this equation is, QuickLogic is the only company in the world that has developed a sensor hub that is low enough power to deliver the vast benefits we can realize from Always-on Context Aware sensor fusion.

Best Heal Care Companies To Buy For 2015: China Biologic Products Inc.(CBPO)

China Biologic Products, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of human plasma-based biopharmaceutical products to hospitals and inoculation centers in the People?s Republic of China. It offers Human Albumin for the treatment of shock caused by blood loss trauma or burn; raised intracranial pressure caused by hydrocephalus or trauma; oedema or ascites caused by hepatocirrhosis and nephropathy; and neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, as well as for the prevention and treatment of low-density-lipoproteinemia. The company also offers Human Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin for the prevention of measles and contagious hepatitis; Human Immunoglobulin and Human Immunoglobulin for Intravenous Injection products for original immunoglobulin deficiency, secondary immunoglobulin deficiency, and auto-immune deficiency diseases; and Thymopolypeptides Injection that is used in the treatment of various original and sec ondary T-cell deficiency syndromes, auto-immune deficiency diseases, and a range of cell immunity deficiency diseases, as well as assists in the treatment for tumors. In addition, it provides Human Rabies Immunoglobulin primarily for passive immunity from bites or claws by rabies or other infected animals; Human Tetanus Immunoglobulin for the prevention and therapy of tetanus; and Placenta Polypeptide that is used for the treatment of cell immunity deficiency diseases, viral infection, and leucopenia caused by various reasons, as well as assists in postoperative heating. The company?s products under development comprise Human Prothrombin Complex Concentrate; Human Coagulation Factor VIII; Human Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin (PH4) for Intravenous Injection; Human Fibrinogen; Varicella Hyperimmune Globulins; and Human Immunoglobulin for Intravenous Injection. The company is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Healthcare sector moved up 0.39 percent, with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) moving up 15 percent to gain the top spot. Top gainers in the sector included China Biologic Products (NASDAQ: CBPO), with shares up 7.4 percent, and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH), with shares up 5.5 percent.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Healthcare sector moved up 0.39 percent, with Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: KERX) moving up 15 percent to gain the top spot. Top gainers in the sector included China Biologic Products (NASDAQ: CBPO), with shares up 7.4 percent, and Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE: LH), with shares up 5.5 percent.

Why Today's War Between Dow Stocks Ended in a Draw

Today's market action looked like a repeat of scenes we saw back in 2000 and 2001, when the tech sector posted regular and consistent share-price declines, even as many so-called "old-economy" stocks held up reasonably well. The same disparity occurred today, with the big damage coming from Microsoft's 11% plunge. Yet, strength from industrial and pharmaceutical stocks helped keep the Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) from losing huge amounts of ground, and the Dow finished the day down just five points, while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC  ) eked out gains on the day.

Microsoft's poor showing rippled throughout the tech sector, as Dow component Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ  ) also saw substantial losses that amounted to more than 4.5%. As much as HP would like to move away from its PC-heavy hardware business in light of Microsoft's poor showing, the turnaround story there will take a long time to play itself out. In the near term, the same pressures that have hit other PC-related stocks are likely to weigh on HP's results. Nevertheless, if you believe that the company's long-term strategy will be successful, then the already-known bad news from PC demand shouldn't affect your investing thesis, and lower prices should make the stock more attractive.

In addition to General Electric's big gains for the day after reporting earnings, pharma stocks Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ  ) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE  ) both posted nice gains of more than 2%. For J&J, an analyst downgrade of rival Merck yesterday highlighted the competitive threat that J&J's Invokana diabetes drug could pose to its existing blockbuster Januvia. With high hopes for Invokana, if J&J can tap into a portion of the billions of dollars that Januvia has brought in over the years, it could create a meaningful boost in earnings, even for a company of J&J's size. Meanwhile, Pfizer reportedly decided not to try to outbid Amgen for cancer-drug producer Onyx Pharmaceuticals, even as investors in Onyx have bid the shares well beyond Amgen's original $120 offer. Buying promising pipelines is a valid strategy, but having the discipline not to overpay is essential, and shareholders are right to reward Pfizer today.

Whether you're talking about new-economy stocks or old-economy stalwarts, the best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich," names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of. Click here now to keep reading.

4 Auto Parts Stocks to Buy Now

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The grades of four auto parts stocks are better this week, according to the Portfolio Grader database. Every one of these stocks has an “A” (“strong buy”) or “B” overall (“buy”) rating.

BorgWarner () is progressing from last week’s rating of B (“buy”) as the company improves to an A (“strong buy”) this week. BorgWarner is a supplier of highly engineered systems and components, mainly for powertrain applications. In Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategory of Equity, BWA also gets an A. The stock price has risen 5.4% over the past month, better than the 1.7% decrease the S&P 500 has seen over the same period of time. .

This is a strong week for Dorman Products, Inc. (). The company’s rating climbs to A from the previous week’s B. Dorman Products supplies automotive replacement parts, fasteners, and service line products primarily for the automotive aftermarket. .

China Automotive Systems, Inc. () is bumping up its rating from a C (“hold”) to a B (“buy”) this week. China Automotive System designs, markets, and sells custom-designed stained glass and leaded glass artifacts. .

Federal-Mogul Holdings Corp () improves from a C to a B rating this week. Federal-Mogul supplies products, services and solutions to automotive, light commercial, heavy-duty truck, off-highway, agricultural, marine, rail, and industrial markets. .

Top 5 Services Stocks To Watch Right Now

Louis Navellier’s proprietary Portfolio Grader stock ranking system assesses roughly 5,000 companies every week based on a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Stocks are given a letter grade based on their results — with A being “strong buy,” and F being “strong sell.” Explore the tool here.

Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs

Related IIN Morning Market Movers Morning Market Losers Related AXAS Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (AXAS) in Focus: Stock Moves 6.4% Higher - Tale of the Tape Will Noble Energy Disappoint This Quarter? - Analyst Blog

Intricon (NASDAQ: IIN) shares gained 33.98% to touch a new 52-week high of $6.23 after the company reported Q1 results.

Abraxas Petroleum (NASDAQ: AXAS) shares gained 2.19% to reach a new 52-week high of $5.60. Abraxas Petroleum shares have jumped 154.88% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 18.57% in the same period.

Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) shares touched a new 52-week high of $72.56 after the company reported a rise in its first-quarter profit.

Allergan (NYSE: AGN) shares reached a new 52-week high of $164.46 on buyout offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE: VRX).

Posted-In: 52-Week HighsNews Intraday Update Markets Movers

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

  Most Popular Earnings Expectations For The Week Of April 21: Apple, Facebook, GM And More A Look At 2014's Leading Cannabis Stocks Sears And Others Insiders Have Been Buying Watching Tech, Alibaba IPO, With Ironfire's Eric Jackson Wells Fargo Securities Sees Mixed Factors for Apple Earnings Scheduled For April 22, 2014 Related Articles (AXAS + AGN) Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs Will Allergan (AGN) Continue to Surge Higher? - Tale of the Tape Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (AXAS) in Focus: Stock Moves 6.4% Higher - Tale of the Tape Morning Market Movers Sterne Agee Expects Allergan to Resist Hostile Takeover by Valeant Benzinga's Top #PreMarket Gainers Around the Web, We're Loving... Noble Energy to Promote COO Stover to CEO as Davidson Retires Lightspeed Trading Prese

Google Inc. (GOOGL) Q1 Earnings Preview: Simply A Bullish Surprise

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss first quarter 2014 financial results on Wednesday, April 16th at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time). The live webcast of Google's earnings conference call can be accessed at investor.google.com/webcast.html. A replay of the webcast will be available through the same link following the conference call. Google will release earnings prior to the conference call.

Wall Street anticipates that the internet information provider will earn $6.39 per share for the quarter, which is $0.60 more than last year's profit of $5.79 per share. iStock expects GOOGL  to beat Wall Street's consensus number. The iEstimate is $6.45, six cents more than expected.

Sales, like earnings, are expected to grow, rising a healthy 11.10% year-over-year (YoY). Google's consensus revenue estimate for Q1 is $15.52 billion, more than last year's $13.97 billion.

Google is a global technology company. The Company's business is primarily focused around key areas, such as search, advertising, operating systems and platforms, enterprise and hardware products. The Company generates revenue primarily by delivering online advertising. The Company also generates revenues from Motorola by selling hardware products. The Company provides its products and services in more than 100 languages and in more than 50 countries, regions, and territories.

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We don't know how to write it in 100 diffident languages, but Google's business is fairly straightforward. As the description says, "The Company generates revenue primarily by delivering online advertising." In fact, online advertising accounted for 92.8% of the search giant's revenue.

To find the money and get a sense of what GOOGL's earnings per share might look like, all you have to do is focus on search trends and spends.

Fortunately, there are companies whose business it is to keep track for such things. One such resource is Kenshoo. The firm reports that advertiser revenue increased 12% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2014.

Last year, Google's Q1 advertising revenue was $12.951 billion. Increase that by 12% and we get ad revenue for Q1 2014 of $14.505 billion. The remaining chunk of Google's sales comes from Motorola Mobile, which we expect will generate about $1.16 billion in sales for the quarter, add 'em up and iStock projects Q1's top line to be $15.668 billion, which would be a mild upside surprise.

If Google hits Wall Street's forecasted net-margin of 13.68% for the first quarter, then EPS would come in at $6.45 on a non-diluted basis and $6.39 on a diluted basis. We think margins could be a little higher as Kenshoo cost-per-click was up 2% to $0.59, plus Google's net-margin is usually much higher than 13.68%.

Overall: Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) revenue should be a little hotter than Wall Street expects based on Kenshoo's analysis. While the iEstimate and our non-diluted calculation suggest EPS of $6.45 (just a coincidence), we think there is plenty of wiggle room for net-margin to be higher than projected, which could make $6.45 the worst case scenario?

GM Continues to Struggle in Europe

General Motors (NYSE: GM  ) has lost billions -- $18 billion, to be exact -- on its troubled European operation since 1999. Its problems have been exacerbated by deep recessions in several European countries that have driven new-car sales to lows not seen in 20 years.

But despite the grim sales figures, GM managed to narrow its loss in Europe last quarter. The secret? A big change in strategy. In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear looks at the latest sales figures from Europe -- and at what GM is doing to try to bring Europe back into the black.

Few companies provoke such strong feelings as General Motors, but ignoring emotions to make good investing decisions is hard. The Fool's premium GM research service can help you understand the real risks facing General Motors -- and the real opportunities for investors. Just click here to get started now.

How old is your plane? You may be surprised

You'd be hard-pressed to find a sector that's as capital intensive and competitive as the airline industry. It literally takes billions of dollars these days to get an airline company off the ground. The costs of fueling, maintaining, and purchasing new aircraft, as well as paying unionized pilots and flight attendants, is enormous and often leaves only a very small profit margin left over.

There are a number of variables that ultimately determine the success or failure of an airline. These factors can include everything from the cooperation of external costs such as jet fuel prices and public perception of the airline industry, to internal factors like labor union cooperation, total debt levels, and the overall age of company's fleet.

Today, I want to focus on that last key point, airline fleet age, because I believe that it's a major component to an airline's success. We'll get into the mechanics of whether older or younger fleets are better, and what advantages and disadvantages ea

ch group offers in a minute, but let's first look at where each of the 15 U.S. airlines rank among fleet age.

The nation's airline fleets

For my research I used data compiled by AirFleets.net. By its own admission, AirFleets' calculations are limited to its current subset of what it refers to as "supported aircraft," which covers a number of Boeing and Airbus models. In other words, these figures should be fairly close to accurate and will give us a good idea of fleet age, but they may not be right on the money.

Without further ado, here are the fleet age rankings from newest to oldest for the nation's 15 largest airlines:

Virgin America -- 5 yearsSpirit Airlines (SAVE) -- 5.2 yearsRepublic Airways -- 5.5 yearsJetBlue -- 7.4 yearsFrontier Airlines -- 8.2 yearsAlaska Air (ALK) -- 9.6 yearsHawaiian Airlines -- 10 yearsAirTran -- 10.9 yearsSkyWest -- 11 yearsSouthwest Airlines (LUV) -- 11.7 yearsUS Airways -- 12.1 yearsAmerican Airlines -- 13.6 yearsUnited Airlines -- 13.6 yearsDelta A! ir Lines -- 16.9 yearsAllegiant Travel (ALGT) -- 22 years

As you can see, from top to bottom, the age of aircraft in service more than quadruples!

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Advantages and disadvantages of a newer fleet

Generally speaking, newer aircraft certainly offer their share of advantages over older aircraft. For example, newer aircraft have better fuel efficiency which results in lower fuel costs. This is important since fuel is often an airlines' biggest expense, so reducing fuel costs can go a long way to boosting margins. This is one reason that Spirit Airlines, despite being a deep-discount national airline, decided to go the route of purchasing newer planes rather than cheaper secondhand planes.

Secondly, newer planes tend to be more comfortable for passengers; they boast Wi-Fi technology, entertainment systems, and a number of updated features. These might seem like trivial technology additions, but they're the type of add-ons that can help drive loyalty in a very cost-conscious industry. I would contend that there's no coincidence that privately held Virgin America ranked highest in U.S. customer satisfaction and that it also has the youngest fleet of the group.

In addition, newer planes have little need for maintenance, meaning that airlines with younger fleets can focus on improving capacity and worry less about whether or not their planes are going to stay in service or require maintenance.

But don't think that new planes are the answer to everything. One factor that airlines and investors should consider is that new planes aren't cheap, and purchasing new planes to take advantage of the fuel and maintenance savings has the potential to put an airline deep into debt. American Airlines Group (AAL) , which is comprised of AMR and US Airways, has hundreds of planes on order over the coming two decades, but it also boasts $20.6 billion! in total! debt. This debt doesn't give the company a lot of flexibility, even post-merger, when it comes to making any strategic moves.

The answer for many of the majors is to turn toward leasing companies which offer the best of both worlds -- the potential to lease a newer aircraft with better fuel efficiency over a fixed time period without a $200 million upfront charge for a new aircraft. For leasing companies such as FLY Leasing, high aircraft pricing provides a consistent stream of customers and steady cash flow which allows it to stay ahead of the curve with newer aircraft purchases. As long as oil prices remain high and plane prices continue to rise (both very feasible scenarios), leasing companies like FLY should benefit.

Advantages and disadvantages of an older fleet

With that being said, there are a number of clear disadvantages to an older fleet. Obviously, worse fuel efficiency is going to be a big extra cost for the bottom rung of airlines, such as Delta Air Lines and Allegiant, which are running, by far, the oldest fleets.

Passenger comfort and amenities could also be affected as a number of older airplanes simply don't have in-flight entertainment systems. Airlines like Alaska Air have done their best to counter this with its digEplayer, a small, portable, downloadable entertainment device which flight attendants pass out during the flight and collect toward the end of a flight for a nominal fee. Not surprisingly, though, a number of the worst performers in overall customer satisfaction also have some of the oldest fleets.

On the flip side, operating an older fleet can have its advantages -- just ask Allegiant. Although Allegiant pays more in fuel costs than its peers for an equivalent amount of miles flown, it also pays far less out of pocket to acquire used planes. This difference has allowed Allegiant to remain one of the few airlines that's net cash positive, and gives it the opportunity to focus on the deep-discount niche where consumers are looking for a no-fri! lls flyin! g experience as long as the flight is cheap.

One final thing worth noting

Lastly, I think it's worth noting that Southwest Airlines is slowly wiggling down the list when it comes to overall fleet age. Comparatively speaking, 11.7 years isn't horrible, nor is the 10.9 years from its subsidiary AirTran. However, we're seeing an interesting twist from Southwest -- it's taking a page out of Allegiant's book and purchasing used jets from WestJet in order to cut capital spending through 2018 by approximately $500 million. The move will certainly allow Southwest to remain competitive on pricing and likely allow it to continue its "bags fly free" program for many additional years.

This approach could set the airline up to feel more pain than the majors would if fuel prices rise dramatically. It also runs the risk of alienating its core customers if the older planes are less customer-friendly when it comes to Wi-Fi, entertainment, and so on. Needless to say, Southwest is certainly reaching an inflection point, and it's definitely worth keeping an eye on.

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.

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Blackstone Discusses Fannie and Freddie Stake

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Blackstone Group  (BX) President and COO Hamilton "Tony" James confirmed the company's preferred equity stake in Fannie Mae  (FNMA) and Freddie Mac  (FMCC) but said he does not believe the asset management giant will drive the debate over the future of the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs).

"I honestly don't think we are going to be the mover and shaker on this," James told TheStreet during a press conference following the company's first quarter earnings release Wednesday. He added the firm does not have so large a position it will be a make or break player in the debate.

"We think we have a plan that makes a lot of sense in terms of getting the GSEs out of being a liability for the government," James said.

James did not elaborate on the plan, though in a follow up email exchange a Blackstone spokesman said the company's plan is distinct from a proposal floated by Fairholme Capital in November that Blackstone was reported to be behind.

"We have our own plan but do not want to comment on details," wrote spokesman Peter Rose.

It seems unlikely government officials would be receptive to any plan backed by private investors, something James, who is friendly with many at the highest levels of government in both major parties, knows better than anyone.

"Clearly this is going to be a highly political process," he said.

GSE reform legislation proposed by Sens. Tim Johnson (D, SD) and Mike Crapo (R., ID) effectively ignores current shareholders, which in addition to Blackstone include high profile investors such as Perry Capital, Fairholme Funds and Pershing Square Capital among many others, as well as consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

It also codifies the Treasury Department's controversial 2012 amendment to the 2008 conservatorship of Fannie and Freddie. The amendment changed the terms of Fannie and Freddie's debt to the government. Instead of owing the Treasury an annual 10% dividend, the GSEs suddenly owed the Treasury all of their profits for an indefinite period, aside from minimal capital buffers. That amendment -- also known as the "net worth sweep" -- is at the crux of many of the roughly 20 lawsuits brought against the government by GSE shareholders. The lawsuits taking issue with the sweep contend it violates the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. constitution's prohibition of the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. Blackstone is not a party to any of the lawsuits, though it will benefit if they succeed. GSO Capital Partners, a unit of Blackstone, commissioned a liquidation analysis of Fannie and Freddie by restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal. The report, published last month, projected the mortgage giants would be worth about $170 billion combined if they were wound down.

Follow @dan_freed

Stock quotes in this article: FNMA, FMCC, BX 

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015

The banking sector usually moves in lockstep with the broader economy, and that is especially true for regional banks that focus on traditional banking operations. As the U.S. economy continues to grow, bank investors are hoping to see the demand for loans pick up as well.

In this video, Motley Fool banking analyst David Hanson discusses three regional banks that were climbing higher today and tells investors why the outlook remains bright for this segment of the banking world.

With big finance firms still trading at deep discounts to their historic norms, investors everywhere are wondering if this is the new normal, or whether finance stocks are a screaming buy today. The answer depends on the company, so to help figure out�whether Regions Financial is a buy�today, I invite you to read our premium research report on the company today.�Click here now�for instant access!

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Genomic Health Inc (GHDX)

Genomic Health, Inc. (Genomic Health), incorporated in August 2000, is a molecular diagnostics company focused on the global development and commercialization of genomic-based clinical laboratory services that analyze the underlying biology of cancer allowing physicians and patients to make individualized treatment decisions. Its Oncotype DX platform utilizes quantitative genomic analysis known as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), in standard tumor pathology specimens to provide tumor-specific information, or the oncotype of a tumor. As of February 2012, Oncotype DX was evaluated in invasive breast cancer in 13 clinical studies involving more than 4,000 breast cancer patients worldwide. Genomic Health offers its Oncotype DX tests as a clinical service, where it analyzes the expression levels of genes in tumor tissue samples and provide physicians with a quantitative gene expression profile expressed as a single quantitative score, which it calls a Recurrence Score, for invasive breast cancer and colon cancer and a DCIS Score for DCIS. Its Oncotype DX breast cancer test analyzes the expression levels of 21 genes and Oncotype DX colon cancer test analyzes the expression levels of 12 genes. In March 2012, the Company established a wholly owned subsidiary, InVitae Corporation.

Oncotype DX Platform

The Company�� Oncotype DX platform uses its RT-PCR approach to improve cancer treatment decisions. Its diagnostic approach correlates gene expression to clinical outcomes and provides an individualized analysis of each patient's tumor. The Company has built a diagnostic infrastructure that allows it to move from research into development through to processing actual patient samples in its clinical reference laboratory. The Company offers Oncotype DX tests as clinical laboratory services. Its technology allows the Company to analyze tumor tissue samples in its clinical reference laboratory and provide physicians with genomic information specific to the patient'! s tumor. It analyzes tissues that are handled, processed and stored under routine clinical pathology laboratory practices.

Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Test

To develop its Oncotype DX breast cancer test, the Company evaluated 250 genes in three independent clinical studies, which identified a 21-gene panel whose composite gene expression profile can be represented by a breast cancer Recurrence Score. The Company conducted studies of its Oncotype DX breast cancer test with clinical samples from postmenopausal women with invasive breast cancer who were treated with aromatase inhibitors. In March 2010, the Journal of Clinical Oncology published results from a European study using its test to analyze tumor samples from over 1,200 patients in the ATAC (Arimedix, Tamoxifen, Alone or in Combination) trial, which established the use of aromatase inhibitors for adjuvant treatment of postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. The study demonstrated that, along with other standard measures, such as tumor size, its Oncotype DX breast cancer test contributes independently to provide a more complete picture of prognosis for N- and N+ patients treated with aromatase inhibitors.

In December 2011, the Company presented positive results from the ECOG E5194 DCIS clinical validation study at SABCS. The study met its primary endpoint by demonstrating that a pre-specified Oncotype DX DCIS Score can predict the risk of local recurrence, defined as either the development of a new invasive breast cancer or the recurrence of DCIS in the same breast. In December 2011, the Company made Oncotype DX available for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), of the breast, a pre-invasive form of breast cancer. The launch of Oncotype DX for DCIS patients was based on positive results presented from a clinical validation study of Oncotype DX breast cancer test in patients with DCIS, conducted by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), a clinical trials cooperative! group su! pported by the National Cancer Institute.

Oncotype DX Colon Cancer Test

The Company developed its gene panel by identifying 761 cancer-related genes through review of existing research literature and computer analysis of genomic databases. The 761 candidate genes were also examined to determine whether they would be useful beyond other key variables including tumor stage, tumor grade, lymph nodes examined and MMR/MSI. It selected a final set of 12 genes, which were then independently evaluated in a validation study of over 1,400 stage II colon cancer patients from the Quick and Simple and Reliable (QUASAR), randomized study of adjuvant chemotherapy in the United Kingdom. This international, multi-center randomized trial examined the recurrence risk and the benefit associated with 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin, or 5FU/LV, adjuvant chemotherapy. Gene expression was quantified by RT-PCR from manually microdissected FPE primary colon cancer tissue, and recurrence-free interval, disease-free survival and overall survival were analyzed. In January 2012, the Company presented positive results of the first clinical decision making study of the Oncotype DX colon cancer test that shows that Recurrence Score result has a significant impact on treatment recommendations for stage II colon cancer patients.

The Company competes with General Electric Company, Hologic, Inc., Novartis AG, Myriad Genetics, Inc., Qiagen N.V., Response Genetics, Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, Roche Holding, Ltd, Siemens AG and Johnson & Johnson.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) was downgraded to Underperform from an already cautious Neutral and the price target was cut to $33 from $36 by Bank of America�Merrill Lynch.

• [By Keith Speights]

  Genetic testing stands out as one current example of how scientific advances can help reduce medical costs. Genomic Health (NASDAQ: GHDX  ) makes genetic diagnostic tests for�breast, colon, and prostate cancer. Half of the patients diagnosed with prostate cancer each year actually have a very low risk of the cancer progressing. However, 90% of these low-risk patients still undergo surgery or radiation -- at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars per patient. Genomic Health's genetic test helps identify which patients really need more extensive treatment and holds the potential to reduce overall costs.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Zweig Fund Inc (ZF)

The Zweig Fund, Inc. (the Fund), incorporated on June 30, 1986, is a closed-end, diversified management investment company. The Fund�� objective is to increase capital primarily with investment in equity securities, consistent with capital preservation and reduction of risk. The Fund�� principal stock market sectors as on June 30, 2007, included information technology, financials, industrials, energy and healthcare.

The Fund�� investment adviser is Phoenix/Zweig Advisers LLC. As of June 30, 2007, its principal industrial positions included Cisco Systems, Corning Inc., EMC Corp., Ford, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, PowerShares QQQ, Nike, Nokia Corp. and Valero Energy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Nathan Slaughter]

  Consider the Zweig Fund (NYSE: ZF). It's a closed-end fund that has $340 million in net assets, which are invested in a diverse basket of blue-chip stocks such as PepsiCo, Apple, JPMorgan, Comcast, U.S. Bancorp and Qualcomm.

Best India Stocks To Buy Right Now: United Dominion Realty Trust Inc. (UDR)

UDR, Inc. is an independent real estate investment trust. The firm invests in the real estate markets of the United States. It owns, operates, acquires, renovates, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily apartment communities. The firm was previously known as United Dominion Realty Trust, Inc. UDR, Inc. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado with additional offices in Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; Newport Beach, California; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Santa Clara, California; Tampa, Florida; and Washington DC, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Everything's peachy for residential REITs!
  However, what terrible news exists for homebuilders could turn into fantastic news for the residential-REIT sector. You see, if lending rates begin to rise because the Fed is paring back its bond purchases, then it will remove the consumer incentive to purchase a home and will drive people back into renting -- which is great news for the big three residential REITS: Equity Residential, AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB  ) , and UDR (NYSE: UDR  ) .

• [By Sean Williams]

  Take UDR (NYSE: UDR  ) or Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR  ) as perfect examples. Both have successfully been adding new communities and making FFO-accretive acquisitions in order to expand their rental portfolios. But, UDR and Equity Residential now boast debt-to-equity ratios in excess of 110%, with UDR carrying $3.5 billion in net debt and Equity Residential lugging around close to $11.6 billion in net debt. Although this debt has been refinanced or taken out in many cases as historically low lending levels, higher rates could stall community expansion for this sector and hurt bottom-line profits because of interest payments.

• [By Reuben Brewer]

  Change doesn't always work out so well
  The thing is, income investors don't always make out so well when big changes are taking place. For example, UDR (NYSE: UDR  ) once bought fixer-uppers and upgraded them as a means to increase rents. That model worked well for the company for many years.

• [By The Part-time Investor]

  The following stocks met the criteria in January of 2008 and were put into the initial portfolio:

  Abbot Labs (ABT)Advanced data processing (ADP)Associated Banc-Corp (ASBC)Bank of America (BAC)BB&T Corp. (BBT)Bemis Company (BMS)Anheuser Busch (BUD)The Chubb Corporation (CB)Clorox (CLX)Comerica Inc. (CMA)Diebold Inc. (DBD)Emerson Electronics (EMR)First Dollar Corp. (FDO)First Third BanCorp. (FITB)Gannett Co, Inc. (GCI)General Electric (GE)Hershey (HSY)Illinois Tools Works (ITW)Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)Leggett and Platt (LEG)Eli Lilly (LLY)La-Z-Boy (LZB)McDonald's (MCD)Marsh and Ilsley (MI)M&T Bancorp (MTB)PepsiCo (PEP)Pfizer (PFE)Procter & Gamble (PG)Pentair Ltd. (PNR)Regions Financial Corp. (RF)Rohm and Haas (ROH)RPM International (RPM)Sherwin Williams (SHW)Sysco Corp. (SYY)UDR Inc. (UDR)

  Historical quotes were taken from Yahoo Finance. $10,000 was put into each position, to the nearest whole share, so a total of $349,262.89 was invested. From 1/15/08 through 5/16/13 all dividends were reinvested back into the stock that paid them. If a dividend cut was announced, that stock was sold on the ex-div date of the new, lower dividend.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Silicon Image Inc.(SIMG)

Silicon Image, Inc. provides wireless and wired high-definition (HD) connectivity solutions that enable the distribution and presentation of HD content for consumer electronics, mobile, and personal computer (PC) markets. It delivers its technology via semiconductor and intellectual property products. The company?s consumer electronics products include high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port processors, HDMI and mobile high-definition link (MHL) transmitters, MHL-to-HDMI bridges, and HDMI receiver products; PC products comprise MHL/HDMI-to-HDMI bridges and digital visual interface receivers; and storage products consist of a line of serial advanced technology attachment controllers used in PC, DVR, and network attached storage applications. Its products are deployed by the electronics manufacturers in various devices, such as desktop and notebook PCs, DTVs, Blu-ray disc players, and audio-video receivers, as well as mobile phones, tablets, and digital cameras. The company, through its subsidiaries, provides manufacturers comprehensive standards interoperability and compliance testing services; and acts as an agent for promoting and administering HDMI and MHL specifications, and for licensing the serial port memory technology memory interface specification. It sells its products to original product manufacturers worldwide through direct sales force, as well as through a network of distributors and manufacturer?s representatives. The company has operations in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, China, and Korea, as well as Europe and internationally. Silicon Image, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  Quick - what do Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE:SPG), Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. (NYSE:DPS), and Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIMG) have in common? If you said absolutely nothing, you'd be about 99% right. There's one common thing between SIMG, SPG, and DPS right now, however. What's that? All three stocks are on my personal "buy" list this week.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  The exact same setup is shaping up in shares of small-cap semiconductor firm Silicon Image (SIMG). Like HCP, this firm is stuck trading in a downtrending channel. Unlike HCP, trendline resistance is a whole lot stronger in this stock. Shares have gotten swatted down on each of the last eight attempts through that ceiling; with shares at resistance again, the high-probability move is to the downside.

  Again, relative strength has been terrible since the summer; SIMG is underperforming the S&P by a considerable margin. Downtrending relative strength is a cardinal sin for stocks, so with shares sitting at resistance, now's a stellar place to be a seller. While support has been pretty strong along the way down, SIMG's previous penetrations through S1 should be a big red flag that buyers are skittish.

  SIMG is in a textbook downtrend right now. Don't get caught on the wrong side of the trade.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Technology shares dropped by 0.14 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) was down more than 11.2 percent, while Silicon Image (NASDAQ: SIMG) tumbled around 6.7 percent.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Rogue Resources Inc (RRS)

Rogue Resources Inc., formerly Rogue Iron Ore Corp., is an exploration-stage company. The Company is engaged in acquiring, exploring, and evaluating mineral properties located in Canada and the United States. The Company owns a 100% interest in Radio Hill Iron Ore property. The Radio Hill Iron Ore property consists of a 12,000 hectare land package located 85 kilometer southwest of Timmins, Ontario. Langmuir Property located seven kilometers by road from Liberty Mines Nickel mill, which has a capacity of 2000 tons/day. Langmuir Property is consists of 74 contiguous unpatented mining claims of 856 units (13,841 hectares). The Langmuir Property includes over 30 kilometer of terrain consists of ultramafic and mafic flows and sills for hosting nickel, copper and platinum group mineralization (PGM). As of April 1, 2012, the Company completed 31 drill holes at Radio Hill for a total of 7,828 meters. In March 2013, it completed the spin off its Rapier Gold Inc unit. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alexis Xydias]

  Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) led commodity producers higher amid signs of growing demand from the world�� second-biggest economy. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Group, the world�� largest mining companies, rallied more than 3 percent. Standard Life Plc (SL/) declined 3.3 percent as analysts raised concern about the insurer�� earnings.

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) slid 1.4 percent after second-quarter profit slumped 61 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Group contributed the most to a decline by U.K. commodity producers. Old Mutual Plc (OML) advanced 2.9 percent after Africa�� biggest insurer said profit rose 14 percent in the first half.

• [By Jonathan Morgan]

  Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS), a gold miner in Africa, declined 5.6 percent to 4,428 pence. Fresnillo Plc, the world�� biggest primary silver producer, sank 11 percent to 924.5 pence after cutting its interim dividend by 68 percent from a year earlier because of a slump in precious-metal prices.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: PDF Solutions Inc.(PDFS)

PDF Solutions, Inc. provides infrastructure technologies and services for the design and manufacture of integrated circuits (IC) in Asia, the United States, and Europe. It offers manufacturing process solutions that include process research and development, and process integration and yield ramp; volume manufacturing solutions; and design-for-manufacturability (DFM) solutions, such as logic DFM, circuit level DFM, memory DFM, and pdBRIX Physical IP solutions. The company also offers characterization vehicle (CV) infrastructure, which includes CV test chips, pdCV analysis software, and pdFasTest electrical wafer test system; Yield Ramp Simulator software that analyzes an IC design to compute its systematic and random yield loss; and Circuit Surfer software, which estimates the parametric performance yield and manufacturability of analog/mixed-signal/RF blocks. In addition, it provides pdBRIX platform, which includes software for identifying and developing a set of physical IP building blocks that are tailored to a given manufacturing process and target product application; dataPOWER YMS platform that collects yield data, loads, and stores it in an integrated database and allows product engineers to identify and analyze production yield issues; FDC software, which provides fault detection and classification capabilities to identify sources of process variations and manufacturing excursions by monitoring equipment parameters; and YA-FDC service and software platform that allows online modeling to create real-time virtual measurements of final product attributes during processing. PDF Solutions sells its technologies and services through direct sales force, sales representatives, and strategic alliances to integrated device manufacturers, fabless semiconductor design companies, and foundries in the microprocessors, memory, graphics, image sensor solutions, and communications segments. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in San Jo se, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  PDF Solutions (PDFS) provides infrastructure technologies and services to improve yield and optimize performance of integrated circuits. This stock closed up 2.6% at $21.51 in Friday's trading session.

  Friday's Volume: 543,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 112,159
  
  Volume % Change: 393%

  From a technical perspective, PDFS trended up here right above some near-term support at $20.50 and into new 52-week-high territory with above-average volume. This stock has been uptrending strong for the last three months, with shares moving higher from its low of $14.95 to its intraday high on Friday of $21.64. During that move, shares of PDFS have been consistently making mostly higher lows and higher highs, which is bullish technical price action. That move has also been accompanies by heavy upside volume flows since mid-July.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in PDFS as long as it's trending above some near-term support at $20.50 or above its 50-day at $19.06 and then once it sustains a move or close above Friday's high of $21.64 with volume that's near or above 112,159 shares. If we get that move soon, then PDFS will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $25 to $28.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3)

Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA, formerly Centennial Asset Participacao Corumba SA, is a Brazil-based company involved in the oil and natural gas industry. The Company and its subsidiaries are primarily engaged in the research, mining, refining, processing, trade and transportation of oil and natural gas. The Company�� subsidiaries participated in a number of concessions in the Brazil and Colombia. On November 21, 2013, processing of judicial recovery was approved for the Company and OGX Petroleo e Gas SA, following decision of the Corporate Court of Capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rajhkumar K Shaaw]

  The MSCI Emerging Markets Index retreated 0.3 percent to 1,027.27, extending its weekly slump to 1.4 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) slid to the lowest level in seven weeks as Great Wall Motor Co. (601633) tumbled 10 percent after earnings missed analysts��estimates. Oil company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3) sank 19 percent, pacing losses in Brazil�� Ibovespa. The rupiah strengthened the most since Sept. 19.

• [By Harry Suhartono]

  The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,004.66. OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (OGXP3) plunged to a record low in Sao Paulo as two people with knowledge of the matter said the oil producer is considering filing for bankruptcy protection within a month. India�� rupee snapped a three-day gain. Polish yields sank to an eight-week low on bets Zyta Gilowska�� successor on the central bank�� rate-setting panel will be reluctant to tighten monetary policy in 2014.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Nokia Oyj (NOK)

Nokia Corporation (Nokia) has three operating segments: Devices & Services; NAVTEQ, and Nokia Siemens Networks. Devices & Services is responsible for developing and managing the Company�� portfolio of mobile products, as well as designing and developing services, including applications and content. NAVTEQ is a provider of digital map information and related location-based content and services for mobile navigation devices, automotive navigation systems, Internet-based mapping applications, and government and business solutions. Nokia Siemens Networks provides mobile and fixed network infrastructure, communications and networks service platforms, as well as professional services and business solutions, to operators and service providers. In April 2010, the Company completed the acquisition of Novarra, Inc. and MetaCarta Inc. In September 2010, Nokia acquired Motally, Inc. In December 2010, Renesas Electronics Corporation acquired Nokia�� Wireless Modem business. In August 2012, the Company sold a portfolio consisting of over 500 patents and patent applications worldwide to Vringo Inc.

Mobile Phones

Nokia produces a range of mobile phones based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems. These products have voice capability, basic messaging and calendar features, and, increasingly, color displays, radios, basic cameras and Bluetooth functionality. Series 30-based mobile phones do not provide Internet connectivity, access to Ovi or offer opportunities for application development by third parties. During 2010, its portfolio of Series 30-based mobile phones included the Nokia 1616, equipped with a long-lasting anti-dust keypad, frequency modulation (FM) radio, a flashlight, and a display that makes viewing information on the small screen easier. Its Series 40 operating system powers the mobile phone models and supports more functionalities and applications, such as Internet connectivity and access to its services.

Series 40 is open to third-party developers! to build Java and Adobe Flash Lite applications and content, which they can make available through the Ovi Store. It combines a touchscreen and a traditional phone keypad, is equipped with a five megapixel camera, quad-band for voice calling and third generation (3G), high speed packet access (HSPA) and wireless fidelity (WiFi) connectivity for data in a bushed aluminum finish. Other additions to the Company�� portfolio included the Nokia C3 Touch & Type, a stainless steel device, which also combines the touch screen and traditional phone keypad, and the Nokia 2690, memory card slot, and which gives access to Ovi Mail and features an FM radio and video graphics array (VGA) camera. It is also incorporating some of the software features and related services popular in its smartphones into the Series 40-based mobile phones. These include the new Ovi Web browser, which is based on the browser technology. It also offers Ovi Mail, a free e-mail service designed for users in emerging markets with Internet-enabled devices.

Smartphones

Nokia�� smartphones are based on the Symbian operating system, which supports an array of functionalities and provides opportunities for the development of applications and content by third parties. During 2010, Nokia also offered a product built on the Linux-based Maemo operating system. The Company makes smartphones for a range of consumer groups, offering Internet access, entertainment, location-based and other services, applications and content. With smartphones, its product categories include music players, cameras, pocketable computers, gaming consoles and navigation devices.

During 2010, the Company introduced a family of smartphones based on a new generation of the Symbian operating system. These were the Nokia N8, a smartphone crafted from anodized aluminum and available in a range of colors, and which offers imaging, video and entertainment capabilities; the Nokia C7, a sleek, full-touch smartphone crafted from stainless stee! l and gla! ss that is designed to appeal to social networkers; the Nokia C6-01, a smaller, full-touch smartphone that features Nokia ClearBlack display technology for outdoor visibility; and the Nokia E7, a business smartphone equipped with a full keyboard and 4-inch touchscreen display also featuring Nokia ClearBlack technology.

During 2010, the Company introduced a number of models based on the Symbian operating system, including the Nokia C6-00, a messaging-optimized smartphone with a 3.2-inch high definition (HD) touchscreen display, a slide out four-row QWERTY keyboard and a five megapixel camera; and the Nokia E5, a messaging-optimized QWERTY smartphone that builds on the Nokia E71 and Nokia E72. The Company also manufactures and sells luxury mobile devices under the Vertu brand. Vertu has more than 600 points of sale globally, including more than 90 Vertu boutiques, in almost 70 countries worldwide.

NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ Corporation (NAVTEQ) offers context and geographical services through Ovi Maps to a range of location-based services, such as pedestrian navigation, traffic and public transport information, local services and city guides, integration with social networks and contextual advertising. In January 2010, Nokia introduced a new version of Ovi Maps for its smartphones, which includes navigation to the user, and it is using NAVTEQ�� digital map information and related location-based content in this offering. This new version of Ovi Maps includes car and pedestrian navigation features, such as turn-by-turn voice guidance. During 2010, the Company�� NAVTEQ launched its new advanced mapping collection technology, NAVTEQ True. During 2010, its NAVTEQ launched Natural Guidance, a product to enable guidance in a human manner through the use of descriptive reference cues.

NAVTEQ�� map database enables the Company�� customers to offer navigation, route planning, location-based services and other geographic information-based products and services to con! sumer and! commercial users. NAVTEQ provides its database to mobile device and handset manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and dealers, navigation systems manufacturers, software developers, Internet portals, parcel and overnight delivery services companies and governmental and quasi- governmental entities, among others. The products and services incorporating NAVTEQ map data include Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Dynamic navigation, Route planning, Location-based services and Geographic information systems. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems are in-vehicle applications that require geographic data, such as curve, slope, speed limits and highly detailed geometry. Dynamic navigation is real-time, detailed turn-by-turn route guidance, which can be provided to end-users through vehicle navigation systems, as well as through Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled handheld navigation devices, and other mobile devices.

Route planning consists of driving directions, route optimization and map display through services provided by Internet portals and through computer software for personal and commercial use. Location-based services include location-specific information services, providing information about people and places that is tailored to the proximity of the specific user. The applications using NAVTEQ�� map database include points of interest locators, mobile directory assistance services, emergency response systems and vehicle-based telematics services. Geographic information systems render geographic representations of information and assets for management analysis and decision making. In addition, NAVTEQ has a traffic and logistics data collection network in which it processes traffic incident and event information, along with traffic flow data collected through its network of roadside sensors and from GPS data records from Nokia devices and other NAVTEQ customers, in order to provide detailed traffic information to radio and television stations, in-vehicle and mobile navigation systems! , Interne! t sites and mobile device users.

NAVTEQ�� map database is a representation of road transportation networks in Europe, North America, Australia, Asia and other regions around the world. This database offers geographic coverage, including data at various levels of detail for 84 countries on six continents, covering more than 19 million miles of roadway worldwide. The most detailed coverage includes road, route and related travel information, including attributes collected by road segment that are essential for routing and navigation, such as road classifications, details regarding ramps, road barriers, sign information, street names and addresses and traffic rules and regulations. In addition, the database includes over 50 million points of interest, such as airports, hotels, restaurants, retailers, civic offices and cultural sites.

Nokia Siemens Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks has three business units: network systems; global services; and business solutions. Nokia Siemens Networks is jointly owned by Nokia and Siemens. Nokia Siemens Networks is a provider of telecommunications infrastructure hardware, software and professional services globally. Nokia Siemens Networks��customers include network operators, such as Bharti Airtel, Deutsche Telecom, France Telecom, Telefonica O2 and Vodafone, as well as service providers, such as Unitech and XO Communications. Nokia Siemens Networks has a products and services portfolio designed to address the needs of communication service providers. Nokia Siemens Networks provides its products and services to more than 600 communication service providers in over 150 countries and has systems serving in excess of 1.5 billion subscribers.

Network systems offers communication service providers both fixed and mobile network infrastructure, including Nokia Siemens Networks��Flexi Multiradio base stations, a software defined radio supporting global system for mobile (GSM), 3G and LTE radio technologies, packet product! s, optica! l transport systems and broadband access equipment. For wireless networks, Network Systems develops and manufactures GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA radio access networks for network operators. It also develops products, such as I-HSPA and new technologies, such as LTE to support the uptake of mobile data services. For fixed line networks, Network Systems focuses on transport networks. Network Systems provides the fundamental elements for high-speed transmission through optical and microwave networks, including packet-oriented technologies, such as Carrier Ethernet and traditional protocols, such as time-division multiplexing (TDM).

Global services business unit offers network operators a range of professional services, including network planning and optimization, the management of network operations and the care and maintenance of software and hardware, and a range of network implementation and turnkey solutions. As of December 31, 2010, 180 million global subscribers were managed througt Nokia Siemens Networks��global delivery hubs. Global services consists of three businesses, which include managed services, which offers network planning and optimization and the management of network operations, with the market share position in India, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa; care, which offers software and hardware maintenance, proactive and multi-vendor care and competence development services, dealing with one million global hardware service transactions, and network implementation, which offers project management and turnkey implementations and energy efficient sites, remotely activating a site every two minutes, 365 days per year.

Business solutions offers products to communication service providers for business and operations support systems and customer experience management, such as charging and billing software, service management software and subscriber database management, and products that enable enhancement and delivery of services across multiple networks and d! evices an! d convergent service control and network security, together with services related to consulting, product implementation, support and care, systems integration and managed services. Business solutions offer products for five areas, as well as services relating to consulting, product implementation, support and care, systems integration and managed services includes business support systems; operations support systems; customer experience management; service enablement and delivery, and converged service control.

The Company competes with Google, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Apple, Tele Atlas, CISCO, NEC and Motorola.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tim Brugger]

  When well-known entities like Nokia� (NYSE: NOK  ) and�Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) �hitch their respective wagons together, there's bound to be high expectations. In this instance, with its steadily declining market share, Nokia literally put its corporate life on the line with the introduction of its high-end Lumia 920 running Microsoft's Windows phone OS.

Best Regional Bank Companies To Invest In 2015: Guggenheim CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust (FXA)

Guggenheim CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust, formerly The CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust, is a grantor trust. The Trust issues shares (the Shares) in blocks of 50,000 (a Basket) in exchange for deposits of Australian Dollars and distributes Australian Dollars in connection with the redemption of Baskets. The investment objective of the Trust is for the Shares to reflect the price of Australian Dollars plus accrued interest, if any, less the expenses of the Trust�� operations. The Shares are intended to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the market for the Australian Dollar through an investment in securities. The Shares are bought and sold on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Arca like any other exchange-listed security.

The Trust holds Australian Dollars and, from time to time, issues Baskets in exchange for deposits of Australian Dollars and distributes Australian Dollars in connection with redemptions of Baskets. The Sponsor of the Trust oversees the performance of the Trustee and the Trust�� principal service providers. The Sponsor is Rydex Specialized Products LLC. The Sponsor is responsible for payment of administrative and marketing expenses. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the Trustee. The Trustee is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Trust, including keeping the Trust�� operational records. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., London Branch is the Depository.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dr. Duru]

  The closest real justification for the rate cut comes via the stubbornly high exchange rate of the Australian dollar (FXA) and low credit demand:

  The exchange rate, on the other hand, has been little changed at a historically high level over the past 18 months, which is unusual given the decline in export prices and interest rates during that time. Moreover, the demand for credit remains, at this point, relatively subdued.