Sunday, May 31, 2015

3 Stocks Under $10 Making Big Moves

DELAFIELD, Wis. (Stockpickr) -- At Stockpickr, we track daily portfolios of stocks that are the biggest percentage gainers and the biggest percentage losers.

>>Hedge Funds Hate These 5 Stocks -- Should You?

Stocks that are making large moves like these are favorites among short-term traders because they can jump into these names and try to capture some of that massive volatility. Stocks that are making big-percentage moves either up or down are usually in play because their sector is becoming attractive or they have a major fundamental catalyst such as a recent earnings release. Sometimes stocks making big moves have been hit with an analyst upgrade or an analyst downgrade.

Regardless of the reason behind it, when a stock makes a large-percentage move, it is often just the start of a new major trend -- a trend that can lead to huge profits. If you time your trade correctly, combining technical indicators with fundamental trends, discipline and sound money management, you will be well on your way to investment success.

>>5 Big Stocks to Trade for Gains This Summer

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at a several stocks under $10 that are making large moves to the upside.

ArQule

ArQule (ARQL), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, researches and develops cancer therapeutics. This stock closed up 4.9% to $1.49 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $1.38-$1.50

52-Week Range: $1.38-$2.94

Thursday's Volume: 464,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 321,548

From a technical perspective, ARQL bounced sharply higher here right off its 52-week low of $1.38 with above-average volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last four months, with shares moving lower from its high of $2.92 to its 52-week low of $1.38. During that downtrend, shares of ARQL have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of ARQL now look ready to reverse its downtrend and experience a powerful bounce higher off depressed levels. Market players should now look for a continuation move to the upside in the short-term if ARQL manages to take out Thursday's intraday high of $1.50 with strong volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ARQL as long as it's trending above its 52-week low of $1.38 and then once it sustains a move or close above $1.50 with volume that hits near or above 321,548 shares. If that move starts soon, then ARQL will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $1.60 to $1.66, or even $1.78 or its 50-day moving average of $1.84.

Eagle Pharmaceuticals

Eagle Pharmaceuticals (EGRX), a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing injectable products primarily in the critical care and oncology areas in the U.S. This stock closed up 0.7% to $9.83 in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $9.60-$9.94

52-Week Range: $9.16-$16.44

Thursday's Volume: 14,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 143,069

From a technical perspective, EGRX trended modestly higher here with very light volume. This stock recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $9.25 to $9.16. Following that bottom, shares of EGRX have now started to rebound higher off those support levels and it's now moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if EGRX manages to take out some key near-term overhead resistance levels at $10.08 to $10.12 with high volume.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in EGRX as long as it's trending above those double bottom support zones and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 143,069 shares. If that breakout gets underway soon, then EGRX will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $10.50. Any high-volume move above $10.50 will then give EGRX a chance for a powerful bounce higher back towards $11.50 to its 200-day moving average of $12.14.

Hansen Medical

Hansen Medical (HNSN) develops, manufactures and sells medical robotics designed for the positioning, manipulation and control of catheters and catheter-based technologies. This stock closed up 2.4% to $1.26 a share in Thursday's trading session.

Thursday's Range: $1.21-$1.31

52-Week Range: $1.10-$2.89

Thursday's Volume: 839,000

Three-Month Average Volume: 594,430

From a technical perspective, HNSN spiked notably higher here right above some near-term support at $1.20 with above-average volume. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last month and change, with shares moving lower from its high of $2.84 to its 52-week low of $1.10. During that downtrend, shares of HNSN have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That move has also pushed shares of HNSN into oversold territory, since this stock's current relative strength index reading is 18.51. Oversold can always get more oversold, but it's also an area where a stock can experience a powerful bounce higher from.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in HNSN an long as it's trending above $1.20 or above $1.15 and then once it sustains a move or close above Thursday's high of $1.31 to some more near-term overhead resistance at $1.38 with volume that hits near or above 594,430 shares. If that move gets started soon, then HNSN will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at around $1.70 to $1.90.

To see more stocks that are making notable moves higher, check out the Stocks Under $10 Moving Higher portfolio on Stockpickr.

-- Written by Roberto Pedone in Delafield, Wis.


RELATED LINKS:

Top 5 Heal Care Companies To Own For 2016



>>3 Stocks Spiking on Unusual Volume



>>5 Hated Earnings Stocks You Should Love



>>5 Stocks Under $10 Set to Soar

Follow Stockpickr on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.

Roberto Pedone, based out of Delafield, Wis., is an independent trader who focuses on technical analysis for small- and large-cap stocks, options, futures, commodities and currencies. Roberto studied international business at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and he spent a year overseas studying business in Lubeck, Germany. His work has appeared on financial outlets including

CNBC.com and Forbes.com.

You can follow Pedone on Twitter at www.twitter.com/zerosum24 or @zerosum24.


Saturday, May 30, 2015

Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Invest In 2016

Hot Warren Buffett Stocks To Invest In 2016: PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA)

PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (the Fund) is a separate series of PowerShares DB Multi-Sector Commodity Trust (the Trust). The Funds subsidiary is DB Agriculture Master Fund (the Master Fund), a separate series of DB Multi-Sector Commodity Master Trust (the Master Trust). The Fund offers common units of beneficial interest (the Shares) only to certain eligible financial institutions (the Authorized Participants) in one or more blocks of 200,000 Shares, called a Basket. The proceeds from the offering of Shares are invested in the Master Fund. The proceeds from the offering of Shares are invested in the Master Fund.

The Master Fund invests with a view to tracking the changes, whether positive or negative, in the level of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity Index Diversified Agriculture Excess Return (DBLCI Diversified Agriculture ER (the Index)) plus the excess, if any, of the Master Funds income from its holdings of United States Treasury Obligations and other short-term fixed income securities over the expenses of the Fund and the Master Fund. The Index is calculated to reflect the change in market value of the agricultural sector. The commodities comprising the Index are corn, soybeans, wheat, kansas city wheat, sugar, cocoa, coffee, cotton, live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hogs (the Index Commodities). The Master Fund also holds United States Treasury Obligations and other short-term fixed income securities for deposit with the Master Funds commodity broker as margin. The Index is composed of notional amounts of each of the underlying Index Commodities.

DB Commodity Services LLC serves as the managing owner, commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor of the Fund and the Master Fund. The Bank of New York Mellon serves as the administrator of the Fund and the Master Fund.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By John Udovich]

    Just when you think the glob! al warming (excuse me, climate change)warnings could not get anymore hysterical orgoofier (Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes have frozen over after all), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc (NYSE: CMG) is sounding the alarm (which may rally all of the Sofritas vegan tofu eaters of America)overits potentialthreattoguacamole, but small cap avocado stock Calavo Growers, Inc (NASDAQ: CVGW) continues to grow investor returns no matter what the weather is doing and has outperformed PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (NYSEARCA: DBA).First and as noted by ThinkProgress.org, Chipotle Mexican Grills latest Annual Form 8-K reported:

  • [By Richard Stavros]

    Whereas in the 1970s there were limited ways to hedge against inflation, now there is a cornucopia of currency and international commodities instruments that can not only hedge against inflation but other global shocks, such as market bubbles and even war.

    And it is these very scenarios that investors have been worried about. Since the beginning of the year, stocks, bonds and just about any investment you can think of have gyrated wildly at various times amid concerns of war, inflation and the possibility that the U.S. equity market is overvalued and headed for a correction.

    In response, some market analysts in Bloomberg news reports have offered any number of wildly unsubstantiated statements for why investors should ignore today’s perils. They dismiss the danger posed by Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimea region (Putin will stop short of other countries or war with the West). They also argue that the Federal Reserve chairwoman misspoke (Janet Yellen really didnt mean a rate hike is coming soon. Inflation is under control. It was a rookie mistake).

    For my money, here’s the most outrageous: The Shiller Cyclically adjusted P/E metric which has predicted the 1929, 2000 and 2007 downturns doesnt apply (Suggests only a slightly expensive market with low to moderate returns going forward on average).

    With new re! cords bei! ng set by the S&P 500 in the last few months, it stands to reason that some investors have not needed much convincing to stay all in and buying. This mindset has prevailed, even as the impact of a Russian war or conflict, runaway inflation or a market correction could be devastating to investor portfolios, taking years to recover.

    If youve never thought of certain investments as “insurance,” its time to start now. Protecting wealth is as important as building wealth. And as previously mentioned, we have found that the Inflation Sur vival Letters Thri

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/hot-warren-buffett-stocks-to-invest-in-2016.html

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Watch Right Now

Top 10 Chemical Stocks To Watch Right Now: OM Group Inc.(OMG)

OM Group, Inc. develops, produces, and markets specialty chemicals, advanced materials, and electrochemical energy storage products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Advanced Materials, Specialty Chemicals, and Battery Technologies. The Advanced Materials segment manufactures inorganic products using unrefined cobalt and other metals and serves the battery materials, powder metallurgy, ceramics, and chemical end markets. It offers cobalt powders, precursors, chemicals, pigments and ceramics, and various raw materials. These products enhance the electrical conduction of rechargeable batteries, as well as strengthen and add durability to diamond and machine cutting tools and drilling equipment. The Specialty Chemicals segment offers electronic chemicals for the printed circuit board, memory disk, general metal finishing, electronic packaging and finishing, and photovoltaic markets. This segment also provides advanced organics comprising additives and driers for paints, and printing inks; rubber adhesion promoters for tires; composite and other catalysts for chemicals; and fuel oil additives, lubricants, and grease additives. In addition, it offers ultra pure chemicals used in the manufacture of electronic and computer components, such as semiconductors, wafers, and liquid crystal displays; and photo-imaging masks, including high-purity quartz or glass plates containing precision, microscopic images of integrated circuits; and reticles for the semiconductor, optoelectronics, and microelectronics industries under the Compugraphics brand name. The Battery Technologies segment provides battery products, primary and secondary batteries, battery management systems, battery chargers, and energetic devices for defense applications; primary and secondary batteries for satellites, aircraft, and the packaging of cells; and miniature batteries to power implantable medical devices. The company was founded in 1991 and is headqua! rtered in Cle veland, Ohio.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Brian Pacampara]

    What: Shares of specialty chemical company OM Group (NYSE: OMG  ) climbed 14% today after its quarterly results easily topped Wall Street expectations.

  • [By Seth Jayson]

    There's no foolproof way to know the future for OM Group (NYSE: OMG  ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-10-chemical-stocks-to-watch-right-now-2.html

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Apple Acting More Like Microsoft Than Facebook And Google

The technology sector has had an incredible multi-year run with a string of hot IPOs and the Nasdaq climbing back over 4,000. And yet the advance has come with barely any participation from the sector's single biggest company by market capitalization, Apple Apple.

Thursday, in a session that saw the Nasdaq and S&P 500 up 0.7% apiece, shares of Apple fell more than 1% to $531.38. In 2014 the stock is trailing broader benchmarks with a 5% decline.

New product categories were the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel for Apple investors who stayed bullish as the stock tumbled from its September 2012 peak. Even after the stock stabilized – helped along by the billions in cash the tech giant has redistributed to shareholders – the expectation of new wearable devices or a forthcoming television kept Apple optimists happy. But the argument that such products will restore Apple to its former growth trajectory has dulled and now another voice has left the chorus.

Barclays Capital analyst Ben Reitzes cut his rating on Apple to neutral from overweight Thursday, warning investors that the stuck may be locked into a trading range for the next year. More importantly, Reitzes admits that the prospect of a new category entrance from the Cupertino, Calif.-based company isn't enough to justify his formerly bullish stance.

"Frankly, we just couldn't quite bring ourselves to use smart watches or TVs as a reason to raise numbers – nor were we fully convinced that these products could move the needle like new categories did in the old days," Reitzes wrote.

Needle-moving developments in Apple's biggest business, the iPhone, have also been hard to come by. A long-awaited partnership with China Mobile China Mobile has finally arrived, but Barclays thinks "it will ramp gradually and its high price may limit adoption."

New developments in the payments space, location-based services and wearables or TV may have greater upside, but none, writes Reitzes, "seems as revoluationary as the iPhone or iPad." Despite repeated promises from Apple chief Tim Cook that more devices are coming, Steve Jobs' successor has clearly lost the benefit of the doubt from some former bulls.

Apple's sheer size (market cap: $474 billion) means that it is still a major holding for many investors and a sizable component of countless indexes. It also routinely shows up among the most widely-held names by retail investors and institutions, but it is rarely a highlight in conversations about exciting tech investments from either a growth or value perspective.

Not only has Apple been slow to enter new categories with in-house products, it has also been beaten out for acquisitions by rivals like Facebook and Google Google. Whether or not Apple bid for assets like smart appliance maker Nest Labs, which Google picked up for $3.2 billion in January, or messaging service WhatsApp, which Facebook bought in deal worth up to $19 billion Wednesday, is not the point. There is a perception that Apple is being outmaneuvered for the next batch of up-and-coming tech assets, and it's a perception the company does not seem to have much interest in dispelling.

In fact, thanks to the pestering of billionaire investors David Einhorn and Carl Icahn over the last year, the focus on Apple's cash hoard has centered on just how much it should be returning to shareholders in dividends and buybacks, rather than whether it should hunt for bigger game on the takeover trail.

Still, the "Apple as a value stock" line of thinking has many skeptics. Wally Weitz, a value investor who manages $5 billion at Weitz Investments, hasn't been tempted to add Apple to his flagship fund.

Apple's iPhone business "is great now, but it won't be that way forever [and] maybe the 'cheaper, not as good' competition gets good enough," Weitz told Forbes last month, which may signal that the stock still has a ways to go before it's irresistible to value investors.

That's a possibility that Reitzes touches on his note, comparing Apple to a stock that has been something of a punching bag for years: Microsoft Microsoft.

"We believe the valuation argument is becoming less and less helpful," he writes, noting that Microsoft's stretch from 2000 (shortly after it became the most valuable company by market cap) through 2010 is a troubling forebear that sharpens the doubts that Apple can get right back to its winning ways. Barclays Capital's analysts "see no precedent that large-size tech companies simply start to broadly outperform again after a tough year or two if the law of large numbers is catching up to them and margins have peaked."

Top 5 Dow Dividend Stocks To Own Right Now

Reitzes isn't necessarily calling for another big slide for Apple, and thinks its accelerated buyback program puts a floor under the stock at $500, but his voice is part of a chorus that has grown in volume wondering whether the upside in Apple shares is severely limited.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Top Wireless Telecom Companies To Own In Right Now

Top Wireless Telecom Companies To Own In Right Now: KDDI Corp (KDDIF)

KDDI CORPORATION is a telecommunications company. The Mobile Telecommunication segment is engaged in the provision of mobile communications services, including voice and data services, and mobile WIMAX services, as well as the sale of mobile communication terminals and the provision of contents. The Fixed-line Telecommunication segment provides broadband services, including fiber to the home (FTTH) and cable television (TV) services, as well as domestic and overseas communication services, data center services and information and communication technology (ICT) solution services. The Others segment is involved in the operation of call centers and the development of research and advanced technology. On December 2, 2013, it transferred all shares of a wholly owned subsidiary, JAPAN CABLE NET LIMITED to another subsidiary. In December 2013, the Company acquired the entire share capital in Yugen Kaisha Cosmos. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Daniel Inman]

    In Tokyo, KDDI (JP:9433) (KDDIF) gained 0.6% after the telecommunications company reported a record-high and consensus-beating operating profit for the first half of the fiscal year, due to a stronger-than-expected increase in subscription and a rise in usage revenue.

  • [By Daniel Inman]

    In Tokyo, telecoms firm KDDI Corp. (JP:9433) (KDDIF) rose 2% after a Nikkei report said that the firm will likely report a record first-half group operating profit, with a 50% on-year increase. TDK Corp. (JP:6762) (TTDKF) , however, dropped 0.2% after a separate Nikkei re! port said that the electronics-component producer will report an 8% increase in operating profit over the same period.

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks opened sharply higher Monday, with the Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) advancing 1.1% to 14,242.86 after falling 2.8% Friday, as end-of-the-week gains for U.S. shares and some earnings news helped lift the market. The Topix also saw solid gains, up 0.8% in early moves. Major advances included a 2.5% rise for Hitachi Ltd. (JP:6501) (HTHIF) , a 4.1% surge for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (JP:7211) (MMTOF) , and a 2.6% improvement for KDDI Corp. (JP:9433) (KDDIF) after the Nikkei business daily said the telecom will report a 50% increase for operating profit in the fiscal first half compared to a year earlier. Sony Corp. (JP:6758) (SNE) added 2% after scoring a Credit Suisse upgrade to outperform. Shares of NTT DoCoMo Inc. (JP:9437) (NTDMF) traded 1.1% higher after posting above-forecast quarterly results Friday, while JFE Holdings Inc. (JP:5411) (JFEEF) fell 3.2% after the steel producer also reported earnings.

  • [By MARKETWATCH]

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- With the yen ho! lding on ! to its gains and investors cautious as earnings season kicks off, Japanese stocks slid lower Friday after closing the previous day with some late-session gains. The Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NIK) fell 0.9% to 14,358.28, with the Topix down 0.8%, as the dollar bought 97.36 yen, little changed from 24 hours earlier. The relatively strong yen weighed on some names with high global exposure, as Sharp Corp. (JP:6753) (SHCAF) lost 1%, Pioneer Corp. (JP:6773) (PNCOF) dropped 1.6%, and Bridgestone Corp. (JP:5108) (BRDCF) fell 1.2%. An outlook cut from Canon Inc. (JP:7751) (CAJ) helped send its shares down 1%, while rival Nikon Corp. (JP:7731) (NINOF) lost 1.8%, though Olympus Corp. (JP:7733) (OCPNF) gained 1%. Telecoms were weak, with Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) (SFTBF) falling 2.5%, KDDI Corp. (JP:9433) (KDDIF) down 1.7%, and NTT DoCoMo Inc. (JP:9437) (NTDMF)

  • source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/top-wireless-telecom-companies-to-own-in-right-now-! 2.html

Monday, May 25, 2015

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now

Popular Posts: 9 Biotechnology Stocks to Buy Now17 Oil and Gas Stocks to Sell Now5 Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Now Recent Posts: 4 Capital Markets Stocks to Sell Now 3 Medical Devices Stocks to Sell Now 4 Building Products Stocks to Buy Now View All Posts

The ratings of three medical devices stocks are down this week, according to the Portfolio Grader database. Each of these rates a “D” (“sell”) or “F” overall (“strong sell”).

Given Imaging () is on the decline this week, earning a D (“sell”) after receiving a C (“hold”) last week. Given Imaging has developed a proprietary wireless imaging system that allows a medical professional to examine the gastrointestinal tract. GIVN also rates an F in Portfolio Grader’s specific subcategory of Earnings Surprise. Trade volume fell markedly in the past week, standing at half of the previous rate. The stock has a trailing PE Ratio of 58.10. .

Top Telecom Companies To Buy For 2016: Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc (AGIO)

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on August 7, 2007, is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company is intend to apply its deep understanding of metabolism, coupled with the Company�� ability to create medicines that can inhibit or activate metabolic enzymes, to fundamentally change the way cancer and inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) are treated. The Company has identified and validated novel and druggable targets in both cancer and IEMs. The Company�� two advanced cancer programs are targeting mutations in the enzymes isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2, referred to as IDH1 and IDH2. The Company�� drug candidates are selective for the mutated forms of IDH1 and IDH2 found in cancer cells versus the normal forms of IDH1 and IDH2 found in all other cells.

The Company focused on developing medicines to address IEMs, with a novel approach to these orphan diseases for which no effective or disease-modifying therapy is available. The Company has also de-validated and terminated numerous programs, including many that have been reported in scientific journals. In the Company�� IEM portfolio, it uses an equally rigorous set of validation techniques.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO) shares touched a new 52-week low of $18.83. Agios Pharmaceuticals' trailing-twelve-month profit margin is -102.87%.

  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading UP
    Sangamo Biosciences (NASDAQ: SGMO) shot up 16.32 percent to $22.81 announced the publication in the NEJM of the first-in-man study of genome editing using its ZFN technology. Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AGIO) got a boost, shooting up 27.72 percent to $40.41 after the company reported quarterly results. BJ's (NASDAQ: BJRI) was also up, gaining 21.04 percent to $33.48 after the company was upgraded toa Buy rating at Buckingham research.

  • [By Roberto Pedone]

     

    Another stock that insiders are moving into here is Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO), which focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics in the field of cancer metabolism and inborn errors of metabolism in the U.S. Insiders are buying this stock into major strength, since shares are up big so far in 2014 by 79%.

     

     

    Agios Pharmaceuticals has a market cap of $1.4 billion and an enterprise value of $1.5 billion. This stock trades at a premium valuation, with a price-to-sales of 53.91 and a price-to-book of 11.51. Its estimated growth rate for this year is 48.1%, and for next year it's pegged at 15%. This is a cash-rich company, since the total cash position on its balance sheet is $162.27 million and its total debt is zero.

     

    A director just bought 2,300 shares, or about $100,000 worth of stock, at $43.98 per share.

     

    From a technical perspective, AGIO is currently trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is bullish. This stock has been selling off after a failed breakout attempt for the last few weeks, with shares moving lower from its high of $50.37 to its intraday low of $42.15 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of AGIO within range of tagging its 50-day moving average of $40.27 a share.

     

    If you're bullish on AGIO, then I would look for long-biased trades as long as this stock is trending above its 50-day at $40.27 and then once it breaks out above some near-term overhead resistance at $45 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above that level with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 419,691 shares. If that breakout starts soon, then AGIO will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance level at its all-time high of $50.37 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give AGIO a chance to tag $55 to $60 a share.

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Cytomedix Inc (CMXI)

Cytomedix, Inc. (Cytomedix), incorporated in April 29, 1998, is a regenerative therapies company marketing and developing products within the United States and internationally .The Company commercializes cell-based technologies that harness the regenerative capacity of the human body to trigger natural healing. The Company is a commercial operation, and a robust clinical pipeline representing a logical extension of its commercial technologies in the evolving field of regenerative medicine. Cytomedix primarily operates in the United States. Its commercial offerings are centered on its point of care platform technologies for the safe and efficient separation of blood and bone marrow to produce platelet based therapies or cell concentrates.

The Company markets and selsl two distinct platelet rich plasma (PRP) technologies, the AutoloGel System for wound care and the Angel concentrated Platelet Rich Plasma (cPRP) Sytem in orthopedic and cardiovascular markets. Its clinical pipeline includes the ALDH, which are cell-based therapies (Bright Cells). In February 2012, the Company acquired Aldagen, Inc.

The AutoloGel System

The AutoloGel System is a point of care device for the production of a platelet based bioactive therapy derived from a small sample of the patient�� own blood. Using the patient�� own platelets as a therapeutic agent, AutoloGel harnesses the body�� natural healing processes to deliver growth factors, chemokines and cytokines known to promote angiogenesis and to regulate cell growth and the formation of new tissue.

Angel Product Line

The Angel concentrated Platelet Rich Plasma (cPRP) System is a multi-functional cell separation device which produces concentrated platelet rich plasma for use in the operating room and clinic and is used in a range of orthopedic and cardiovascular indications. Similar to the AutoloGel System, the Angel System is a point of care device for the production of a concentrated, aseptic platelet! -based bioactive therapy derived from a small sample of the patient�� own blood. The resulting cPRP is applied at the site of injury to promote healing. The Angel product line also includes ancillary products such as phlebotomy and applicator supplies and activAT. activAT is designed to produce autologous thrombin serum from platelet poor plasma and is sold exclusively in Europe and Canada, where it provides a safe alternative to bovine-derived products.

ALDHbr Cell Technology and Development Pipeline

The ALDHbr (Bright Cell) technology is an approach to cell-based regenerative medicine and a logical extension of its commercial technologies in the evolving regenerative medicine market, with potential clinical indications in markets with unmet medical needs such as peripheral arterial disease and ischemic stroke. The Bright Cell technology is in that it utilizes an intracellular enzyme marker to facilitate fractionation of essential regenerative cells from a patient�� bone marrow. The bone marrow fractionation process identifies and isolates active stem and progenitor cells expressing high levels of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase, or ALDH, which is a key enzyme involved in the regulation of gene activities associated with cell proliferation and differentiation.

The Company�� lead product candidate, ALD-401, is an autologous preparation of Bright Cells for the post-acute treatment of ischemic stroke. ALD-401 is being evaluated in the RECOVER-Stroke clinical study, an ongoing 100-patient, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study in patients with unilateral, cerebral ischemic stroke with an NIH stroke scale score of less than 22. An additional product candidate, ALD-301, is in clinical development for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a condition causing reduced flow of blood and oxygen to muscles in the leg. It has completed a Phase 1/2 study of autologous ALD-301 in critical limb ischemia (CLI), a late stage condition caused by PAD. The Phase 2 PACE! (Patient! s with Intermittent Claudication Injected with ALDH Bright Cells) study is an 80 patient, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial intended to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of ALD-301 (Bright Cells) in patients diagnosed with IC.

The Company competes with Harvest Technologies (a subsidiary of Terumo), Biomet, Arteriocyte, and Arthrex.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By James E. Brumley]

    To give credit where it's due, Cytomedix, Inc. (OTCBB:CMXI) and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) have both helped shape the landscape of the hemostasis (bleeding control) market with their products, AutoloGel and TISSELL, respectively. Arch Therapeutics Inc. (OTCBB:ARTH) has proverbially taken their concepts "up a notch", however, and its direct solution to a problem that CMXI and BAX can't quite solve may make ARTH the hottest trading candidate in the hemostasis space.

  • [By Bryan Murphy]

    When traders think of post-surgical wound management stocks, they may first think of names like Cytomedix, Inc. (OTCBB:CMXI) or Alliqua Inc. (OTCMKTS:ALQA). And well they should. Both companies have something of a history in the arena. ALQA is the purveyor of SilverSeal and Hydress antibiotic bandages, while CMXI is the developer of the AutoloGel system, which induces an affected patient's on body to do what it's supposed to do if there's a wound that won't heal. Cytomedix also makes the Angel platelet-rich plasma (PRP) delivery system. There's a relatively new name to add to the list of game-changing stocks in wound-management industry, however.... Arch Therapeutics Inc. (OTCBB:ARTH). The company is developing - well, has developed - a product called AC5 that nips post-surgical bleeding in the bud, largely negating the need for other post-surgical bleeding-control measures.

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: NanoViricides Inc (NNVC)

NanoViricides, Inc., incorporated on April 1, 2005, is a development-stage company. The Company is a nano-biopharmaceutical (nanomedicine) company whose business goals are to discover, develop and commercialize therapeutics to advance the care of patients suffering from life-threatening viral infections. The Company has several drugs in various stages of early development. The Company�� drugs are based on several patents, patent applications, provisional patent applications, and other property held by TheraCour Pharma, Inc. (TheraCou), to which the Company has exclusive licenses in perpetuity for the treatment of human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Influenza including Asian Bird Flu Virus (INF), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Rabies. As of June 30, 2012, the Company had six drug development programs: Oral FluCideTM, against all Influenzas; a Piggy-back version of Flucide for hospitalized patients; nanoviricide eye drops against adenoviral EKC and herpes keratitis; HIVCide - I against HIV/AIDS; HerpeCide - I skin cream formulation for herpes cold sores and genital warts, and DengueCide, a broad spectrum nanoviricide designed to attack all types of dengue viruses and expected to be effective in the Severe Dengue Disease syndromes including Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHS) and Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). As of June 30, 2012, it had engaged in organizational activities, sourcing compounds and materials, developing novel compounds and nanomaterials, and experimentation with studies on cell cultures and animals. In September 2011, NanoViricides Inc's Inno-Haven LLC acquired a light industrial building.

The Company's product development programs are divided into three sectors: commercially important diseases, neglected tropical diseases (NTD��) and biosecurity/biodefense, and advanced technologies. The Company has collaborations with KARD Scientific, Inc., MA. and Southern Research Institute, AL for influenza viruse! s; National (Central) Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) (Vietnam), for H5N1 avian flu; The Long Island Jewish Medical System, Feinstein Institute of Medical Research (LIJMS), NY and TheVac, LLC. for viral diseases of the eye (adenoviruses, herpesviruses - epidemic kerato-conjunctivitis (EKC), Herpes Keratitis); TheVac, LLC and Northeastern Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) for herpes virus infections; University of California at Berkeley for dengue hemorrhagic fever viruses; Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National (Central) Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for rabies virus. The Company has developed lead drug candidates against a number of viral diseases.

The Company had consolidated all of its influenza drug programs into a single pan-influenza FluCide program. It is developing a single drug for all influenzas, whether pandemic, epidemic, seasonal, novel, emerging, human, swine, or avian. It is developing a nanoviricide against adenoviral EKC. The nanoviricide eye drug candidate is formulated as simple eye drops. It is developing an anti-HSV nanoviricide skin cream formulation for direct application to the lesions. It has designed the anti-HIV nanoviricides using rational drug design principles. The ligands it has designed in the case of HIV-1 are thought to be broadly neutralizing. In-silico modeling indicates that its ligands dock to the conserved CD4 binding site of gp120 of HIV-1. The Company is working on developing anti-Dengue therapeutics. Dengue is an important NTD. Its RabiCide program has resulted in candidates that have enabled survival of 20% to 30% of infected animals after disease has set in, using a particular animal model.

The Company competes with Roche, Glaxo SmithKline, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gilead, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck), Valeant, Schering, Pharmassett, Vertex, Intermune, Achillion and Novartis.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Roberto Pedone]


    One under-$10 nano-biopharmaceutical player that's starting to trend within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Nanoviricides (NNVC), which engages in the discovery, development and commercialization of anti-viral therapeutics primarily in the U.S. This stock has been ripping to the upside so far in 2013, with share up big by 198%.

    If you take a look at the chart for Nanoviricides, you'll notice that this stock has recently formed a double bottom chart pattern at $4.55 to $4.52 a share. Following that bottom, shares of NNVC have now started to uptrend and move within range of triggering a big breakout trade. That trade will hit if NNVC manages to take out the upper-end of its recent sideways trading chart pattern, which has seen NNVC trend between $4.55 and $5.74 a share.

    Traders should now look for long-biased trades in NNVC if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at Friday's high of $4.94 a share to its 50-day moving average of $5.28 a share, and then once it takes out some more key overhead resistance levels at $5.72 to $5.74 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average volume of 234,994 shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then NNVC will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $6.50 to its 52-week high at $7.59 a share.

    Traders can look to buy NNVC off weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $4.55 to $4.52 a share. One can also buy NNVC off strength once it starts to clear those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: NeoStem Inc (NBS)

NeoStem, Inc., incorporated on September 18, 1980, operates in cellular therapy industry. Cellular therapy addresses the process by which new cells are introduced into a tissue to prevent or treat disease, or regenerate damaged or aged tissue, and consists of a separate therapeutic technology platform in addition to pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices. The Company�� business model includes the development of novel cell therapy products, as well as operating a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) providing services to others in the regenerative medicine industry. Progenitor Cell Therapy, LLC, the Company�� wholly owned subsidiary (PCT), is a CDMO in the cellular therapy industry. PCT has provided pre-clinical and clinical current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) development and manufacturing services to over 100 clients advancing regenerative medicine product candidates through rigorous quality standards all the way through to human testing.

PCT has two cGMP, cell therapy research, development, and manufacturing facilities in New Jersey and California, serving the cell therapy community with integrated and regulatory compliant distribution capabilities. Its core competencies in the cellular therapy industry include manufacturing of cell therapy-based products, product and process development, cell and tissue processing, regulatory support, storage, distribution and delivery and consulting services. The Company�� wholly-owned subsidiary, Amorcyte, LLC (Amorcyte) is developing its own cell therapy, AMR-001, for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. AMR-001 represents its clinically advanced therapeutic product candidate and enrollment for its Phase II PreSERVE clinical trial to investigate AMR-001's safety and efficacy in preserving heart function after a heart attack in a particular type of post Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) patients.

Through the Company�� subsidiary, Athelos Corporation (Athelos), the Company is collaborating w! ith Becton-Dickinson in early stage clinical development of a therapy utilizing T-cells, collaborating for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions, including but not limited to, graft vs. host disease, type 1 diabetes, steroid resistant asthma, lupus, multiple sclerosis and solid organ transplant rejection. The Company�� pre-clinical assets include its Very Small Embryonic Like (VSEL) Technology platform. The Company has basic research and development capabilities, manufacturing facilities on both the east and west coast of the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stock Investor]

    Back in April in my article titled, "Regenerative Medicine's Time Has Come", I covered two very interesting companies focused on this field: NeoStem Inc. (NBS) and Neuralstem Inc. (CUR).

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: Puma Biotechnology Inc (PBYI)

Puma Biotechnology, Inc., incorporated in April 2007, is a development-stage biopharmaceutical company that acquires and develops products for the treatment of various forms of cancer. The Company focuses on in-licensing drug candidates that are undergoing or have already completed initial clinical testing for the treatment of cancer and then seeks to further develop those drug candidates for commercial use. As of December 31, 2011, the Company licensed three drug candidates: PB272 (neratinib (oral)), which the Company is developing for the treatment of advanced breasts cancer patients and gastric cancer patients; PB272 (neratinib (intravenous)), which the Company is developing for the treatment of advanced cancer patients, and PB357.

PB272 (neratinib (oral))-Breast Cancer

Neratinib is a potent irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or TKI, that blocks signal transduction through the epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs), HER1, HER2 and HER4. The Company's initial focus is on the development of neratinib as an oral treatment of patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer.

PB272 (neratinib (intravenous))

The Company develops neratinib as an intravenously administered agent. In pre-clinical studies the intravenous version of neratinib resulted in higher exposure levels of neratinib in pre-clinical models.

PB357

PB357 is an orally administered agent that is an irreversible TKI that blocks signal transduction through the epidermal growth factor receptors, HER1, HER2, and HER4. PB357 is structurally similar to PB272. Pfizer completed single dose Phase I trials of PB357. The Company is evaluating PB357.

The Company competes with Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Boehringer Ingelheim, Takeda, Array Biopharma and Ambit Biosciences.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Anna Prior]

    Puma Biotechnology Inc.(PBYI) reported positive top-line data from the Phase II clinical trial of the biopharmaceutical company’s investigational drug PB272 for the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.

  • [By John Udovich]

    Yesterday, small cap biopharmaceutical stock Puma Biotechnology Inc (NYSE: PBYI) jumped 11.98% after announcing they will have a conference call next week to update�investors on�its clinical trials of PB272 (neratinib) in cancer patients, meaning its probably time to take a closer look at the stock to see if investor might be counting the chickens before they hatch along with the performance of large cap AbbVie Inc (NYSE: ABBV) which also recently had positive news about its own breast cancer treatment plus biotech ETFs iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) and SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (NYSEARCA: XBI).

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: DiaMedica Inc (DMA)

DiaMedica Inc. (DiaMedica) is a development-stage company. The Company is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of diabetes and related diseases. DiaMedica's compound, DM-199, is a recombinant human protein for the treatment of both Type I and Type II diabetes and their complications. DiaMedica is starting a Phase I/II clinical trial for DM-199. DM-199 is a recombinant human protein, which improves glucose control, protects beta cells through the expansion of a population of antigen-specific immunosuppressive cells (Tregs), and proliferates insulin producing beta cells through the activation of certain growth factors. The Company�� DM-204 is a G-protein-coupled receptor agonist (GPCR) monoclonal antibody to treat Type II diabetes and some of the associated complication's. activating a receptor resulted in insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion and vasodilation. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Richard Rhodes]

    Given this economic backdrop, and developing pressure on corporate revenues, margins, and earnings, we feel that risk is being misplaced at current levels.

    The 14-day and 40-day models are now overbought. Now, the 14-day and 40-day are peaking, which would certainly indicate a correction stands as the highest probability.

    The % of stocks above their 10-day moving average (dma) is at the 70%-level; still a major divergence with prices.

    The % of stocks above their 200-dma stands at 77%. The 87% level marked previous highs. The 50-dma/150-dma cross breakdown now confirms a larger correction. Bottoms form between 30%-40%.

    Overall, the risk-reward remains skewed to the downside, regardless of whether prices remain above trendline resistance, as our model group suggests a correction to the 110-day moving average, currently at S&P 1711.

    A clear breakdown at that level would accelerate the decline towards the wide 200-dma and 380-dma range, between 1657-1571.

Top 10 Biotech Companies To Watch In Right Now: ANI Pharmaceuticals Inc (ANIP)

ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., incorporated on April 11, 2001, is an integrated specialty pharmaceutical company developing, manufacturing, and marketing branded and generic prescription pharmaceuticals. In two facilities with combined manufacturing, packaging and laboratory capacity totaling 173, 00 square feet, the Company manufactures oral solid dose products, as well as liquids and topicals, including narcotics. Its other products include The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved testosterone gel, which is licensed to Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. In December 2013, the Company acquired 31 generic drug products from Teva Pharmaceuticals, which includes 20 solid-oral immediate release products, four extended release products and seven liquid products.

The Company performs contract manufacturing for other pharmaceutical companies. It has launched three products and has 11 products in development. The Company�� targeted areas of product development include narcotics, anti-cancers and hormones (potent compounds), and extended release niche generic product opportunities.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Lisa Levin]

    ANI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ANIP) shares climbed 9.42% to $20.79. The volume of ANI Pharmaceuticals shares traded was 651% higher than normal. ANI Pharmaceuticals shares have jumped 121.45% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has surged 25.37% in the same period.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    ANI Pharmaceuticals (ANIP) has climbed 8.9% to $18.80 after it said it would buy 31 generic drugs from Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA). Teva’s shares are little changed in pre-open trading.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now

The average balance in Fidelity Investments’ IRA accounts grew by 53% to $81,100 in the five-year period to the end of the 2012 tax year.

Fidelity’s annual analysis of its approximately 7 million IRA accounts, released Tuesday, also showed that total contributions increased by 7.5% from tax year 2008 to 2012, with the average contribution reaching $3,920 in the last tax year.

“Age-appropriate asset allocation strategies, market appreciation, and annual contributions all played a part in driving balances higher,” Fidelity Investments vice president Ken Hevert said in a statement.

Fidelity said investors in their 60s continued to save the most in their traditional and Roth IRAs. For tax year 2012, they contributed on average $4,910 to Traditional IRAs and $4,840 to Roth IRAs.

As tax law changes were being debated on Capitol Hill in 2012, Roth IRA conversions increased by 12% year over year and by 52% year over year for the month of December.

Top Blue Chip Stocks For 2016: Genpact Limited (G)

Genpact Limited provides business process management and information technology services worldwide. It offers finance and accounting services, including accounts payable services, payment and inquiry management, order to cash services, preparation of financial statements, closing and reporting, cash management, treasury, cash flow analysis, tax return preparation, financial planning and analysis, governance, and internal controls services. The company also provides smart decision services, such analytics and research; business consulting and enterprise risk consulting services comprising internal audit, compliance advisory, regulatory advisory, enterprise, IT, and fraud risk management services; and re-engineering services. In addition, it offers supply chain and procurement services consisting of direct and indirect sourcing and procurement, demand forecasting and management, engineering, inventory optimization and planning, fleet and logistics, and aftermarket services. Further, the company provides enterprise application services comprising enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, financial management and customer relationship management solutions, and securities trading and accounting services, as well as testing, database administration, and architecture services; IT management services, including onsite and remote monitoring, management and support of the IT functions, and IT infrastructures; and collections and customer services in the areas of consumer finance, commercial finance, and mortgage services. It primarily serves banking and insurance, capital markets, consumer goods and retail, life sciences, infrastructure, manufacturing and services, and healthcare industries. Genpact Limited has a strategic partnership with Research Now. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

    Equities Trading DOWN
    Shares of Genpact (NYSE: G) were down 17.82 percent to $14.16 after the company issued a downbeat FY14 revenue forecast.

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: Ply Gem Holdings Inc (PGEM)

Ply Gem Holdings, Inc. (Ply Gem Holdings), incorporated on January 23, 2004, is a manufacturer of residential exterior building products in North America. The Company operates in two segments: Siding, Fencing, and Stone and Windows and Doors. These two segments produce a product line of vinyl siding, designer accents, cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC) trim, vinyl fencing, vinyl and composite railing, stone veneer and vinyl windows and doors used in both new construction and home repair and remodeling in the United States and Western Canada. It also manufactures vinyl and aluminum soffit and siding accessories, aluminum trim coil, wood windows, aluminum windows, vinyl and aluminum-clad windows and steel and fiberglass doors, enabling it to bundle complementary and color-matched products and accessories with its core products. The Company�� subsidiaries includes including Ply Gem Industries, MWM Holding, AWC Holding Company, MHE, and Pacific Windows. On July 30, 2012, Ply Gem acquired substantially all of the assets of Greendeck Products, LLC.

Siding, Fencing, and Stone Segment

In the Siding, Fencing, and Stone segment, its principal products include vinyl siding and skirting, vinyl and aluminum soffit, aluminum trim coil, J-channels, wide crown molding, window and door trim, F-channels, H-molds, fascia, undersill trims, outside/inside corner posts, rain removal systems, injection molded designer accents, such as shakes, shingles, scallops, shutters, vents and mounts, vinyl fence, vinyl and composite railing, and stone veneer. It sells its siding and accessories under its Variform, Napco, Mastic Home Exteriors, and Cellwood brand names and under the Georgia-Pacific brand name through a private label program. It also sells its Providence line of vinyl siding and accessories to Lowe�� under its Durabuilt private label brand name. Its vinyl and vinyl-composite fencing and railing products are sold under its Kroy and Kroy Express brand names. Ply Gem Holdings stone veneer produ! cts are sold under its United Stone Veneer brand name.

The Company sells the siding and accessories to specialty distributors (one-step distribution) and to wholesale distributors (two-step distribution). Its specialty distributors sell directly to remodeling contractors and builders. Its wholesale distributors sell to retail home centers and lumberyards who, in turn, sell to remodeling contractors, builders and consumers. In the specialty channel, it has developed a network of approximately 800 independent distributors, serving over 22,000 contractors and builders nationwide.

Windows and Doors Segment

In the Windows and Doors segment, its principal products include vinyl, aluminum, wood and clad-wood windows and patio doors, and steel, wood, and fiberglass entry doors that serve both the new home construction and the repair and remodeling sectors in the United States and Western Canada. Its products in its Windows and Doors segment are sold under the Ply Gem Windows, Great Lakes Mastic by Ply Gem, and Ply Gem Canada brands.

The Company competes with Alsco, Gentek, U.S. Fence, Homeland, Westech, Bufftech, Royal, Azek., Eldorado Stone, Coronado Stone, Jeld-Wen, Simonton, Pella and Andersen, MI Home Products, Atrium, Weathershield, Milgard, Jeld-Wen, Gienow, All Weather and Loewen.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Traders Reserve]

    There hasn�� been a January effect rally in shares of Ply Gem (PGEM). In fact, it has been quite the opposite. Shares are down a whopping 25% during the month. For a stock I rated as on of the Top 10 Sizzling Stocks, such a move is painful, but not disastrous. Sizzling Stocks are meant to be held for the duration of the year and we have 11 months to go. Small-cap stocks like Ply Gem can move sharply one direction or the other.

  • [By Matt Jarzemsky]

    Installed Building Products��debut follows mixed performance from shares of some newly public building-products companies. Through Tuesday, siding manufacturer Ply Gem Holdings Inc.(PGEM)�� shares were down 39% from the offer price in its $381 May debut. Wood-products maker Boise Cascade Co.(BCC) was up 46% from its $284 million February IPO.

  • [By Lisa Levin]

    Ply Gem Holdings (NYSE: PGEM) shares reached a new 52-week low of $11.48 after the company reported wider-than-expected Q4 loss and issued a weak Q1 revenue forecast.

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: Unione di Banche Italiane ScpA (BPD)

Unione di Banche Italiane Scpa is an Italy-based holding company engaged in the governance, control, coordination and support of Unione di Banche Italiane Group. The Company�� activities are divided into three business segments. The Banking sector comprises of nine network banks of the Group, including IW Bank SpA, Banque de Depots et de Gestione SA and UBI International SA. The Non-banking financial sector includes Centrobanca SpA, Ubi Leasing SpA, Ubi Factor SpA, Ubi Pramerica SGR SpA, Banca 24-7 SpA, Silf SpA, Prestitalia SpA, Ubi Fiduciaria SpA and UBI Gestioni Fiduciarie SIM SpA. The Corporate Centre segment comprises UBI Banca Scpa and Ubi Sistemi e Servizi Scpa, among others. The Company is engaged in the corporate banking, consumer credit, asset management, factoring, leasing, life and non-life bancassurance sectors, among others. On May 6, 2013, it completed merger of Centrobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario e Mobiliare SpA into the Company. Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Robert Rapier]

    US oil production has risen from 5 million barrels per day (BPD) in 2008 to 7.3 million BPD in the most recent quarter. The US is now the fastest-growing oil producing region in the world.

  • [By April Yee]

    In its annual outlook, released this month, Opec said demand for its crude would dip to between 28 million and 29.2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2018, from 30.3 million bpd today.

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: iShares Residential Real Estate Capped ETF (REZ)

iShares FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the FTSE NAREIT Residential Index (the Index). The Index measures the performance of the residential real estate sector of the United States equity market.

The Fund will concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent as the Index is so concentrated. A significant number of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) included in the Index may make direct investments in real estate. These REITs are referred to as equity REITs. Equity REITs invest primarily in real property and earn rental income from leasing those properties. The Fund invests in equity REITs that primarily have exposure to residential real estate. The Fund�� investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Susan J. Aluise]

    Riding the growth in multifamily homes, NYMT is up 13% this year. Because mREITs use leverage to invest in mortgage debt, they tend to be riskier than property-based REITs –�they’re more vulnerable to interest rate fluctuations. A rising rate environment is anathema to mREITs, and NYMT is no exception …�but I think the growth in the multifamily sector plus the hefty dividend will provide solid rewards for investors willing to stomach a little more risk.

    REIT ETF:�FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund�(REZ)

    If you��e looking for exposure to the multifamily rental housing boom, but want to diversify beyond either single housing stocks or REITs, an ETF like FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund�(REZ)�might be just what you��e looking for.

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: Wisdomtree International Energy Sector Fund (GNAT)

WisdomTree International Energy Sector Fund (The Fund) is a non-diversified fund. It seeks investment results that closely correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the WisdomTree International Energy Sector Index (The Index). The Fund is managed by WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc.

The Index is derived from WisdomTree Index of Europe, Far East Asia and Australasia (DEFA) Fund. It measures the performance of dividend-paying companies in developed markets outside of the United States and Canada within the international energy sector. The companies are weighted in the Index based on regular cash dividends paid. The Index includes companies from oil and gas producers, oil and gas services, pipelines, alternative energy sources, and coal industries.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

    Unusual volume (at least 5X ADV): Market Vectors Gaming ETF (NYSE: BJK), Guggenheim Timber ETF (NYSE: CUT), WisdomTree Global Natural Resources ETF (NYSE: GNAT), iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners (NYSE: RING) and the Global X Social Media Index ETF (NASDAQ: SOCL).

Top Forestry Companies To Watch In Right Now: Ares Capital Corp (ARCC)

Ares Capital Corporation (Ares Capital), incorporated on April 16, 2004, is a specialty finance company, which is a closed-end, non-diversified management investment company. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiaries and vehicles managed or sub-managed by its wholly owned portfolio company, Ivy Hill Asset Management, L.P. (IHAM). It is externally managed by its investment adviser, Ares Capital Management LLC (Ares Capital Management or its investment adviser), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Management LLC (Ares Management), a global alternative asset manager. Ares Operations LLC (Ares Operations or administrator), its administrator, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Management, provides the administrative services. It invests in United States middle-market companies. It invests in first and second lien senior loans and mezzanine debt, which in some cases includes an equity component. It also makes preferred and/or common equity investments.

The Company�� portfolio company, IHAM, manages 10 unconsolidated credit vehicles and sub-manages or sub-advises four other unconsolidated credit vehicles (these vehicles managed or sub-managed/sub-advised by IHAM). It has also made direct investments in securities of certain of these vehicles. Ares Management�� (Ares) finance activities include the origination, acquisition and management of senior loans, bonds, mezzanine debt and special situation investments. Ares' private equity activities focus on providing flexible, junior capital to middle-market companies.

The Company has an investment portfolio of first and second lien loans, mezzanine debt and equity investments in private middle-market companies. The Company and General Electric Capital Corporation and GE Global Sponsor Finance LLC (GE) co-invest through the Senior Secured Loan Fund LLC, which operates using the name Senior Secured Loan Program. As of December 31, 2011, the Senior Secured Loan Program (SSLP) consisted of a portfolio of loans to 32 different borrowers and th! e portfolio companies in the SSLP are in industries similar to the companies in Ares Capital's portfolio. It also makes preferred and/or common equity investments. It makes senior secured loans in the form of first and/or second lien loans. Its first and second lien loans have terms of three to 10 years. The list of the industries, in which it has invested include aerospace and defense, business services, consumer products, containers and packaging, education, energy, environmental services, financial services, food and beverage, healthcare services, investment funds and vehicles, manufacturing, restaurant and food services, retail, and telecommunications. It has made investments in its portfolio company, IHAM, which manages 10 unconsolidated credit vehicles: Ivy Hill Middle Market Credit Fund, Ltd. (Ivy Hill I), Ivy Hill Middle Market Credit Fund II, Ltd. (Ivy Hill II), Ivy Hill Middle Market Credit Fund III, Ltd. (Ivy Hill III), Ivy Hill Senior Debt Fund, L.P. and related vehicles (Ivy Hill SDF and, together with Ivy Hill I, Ivy Hill II and Ivy Hill III, the Ivy Hill Funds); Knightsbridge CLO 2007-1 Limited, Emporia Preferred Funding I, Ltd., Emporia Preferred Funding II, Ltd. and Emporia Preferred Funding III, Ltd. (collectively, the Emporia Funds), and Ares Private Debt Strategies Fund II, L.P. and Ares Private Debt Strategies Fund III, L.P. (collectively, the PDS Funds). In addition, IHAM serves as the sub-adviser/sub-manager for four others: CoLTS 2005-1 Ltd., CoLTS 2005-2 Ltd. and CoLTS 2007-1 Ltd. (collectively, the CoLTS Funds), and FirstLight Funding I, Ltd. (FirstLight).

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Ron Rowland]

    The underlying index has 138 constituents, with the largest allocations going to PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt (PCY) 10.0%, iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) 9.9%, iShares US Preferred Stock ETF (PFF) 7.0%, Market Vectors High Yield Municipal Index ETF (HYD) 4.9%, Ares Capital (ARCC) 4.2%, and Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) 4.0%.

  • [By salamat_uri]

    For dividend investors, Prospect Capital offers a lot of reasons to get excited. But for those that are interested in the stock and are still looking for broad exposure to the BDC space as a whole, a suitable alternative can be found in the Market Vectors BDC Income ETF (BIZD) which offers well-diversified access to 28 BDCs. Prospect Capital is included in the mix, and other notable examples can be seen in names like Ares Capital (ARCC), which is one of the most stable names in the space. Ares Capital has over $8 billion in reported assets and has directed its attention at a large number of industry segments, with investment exposure in nearly 200 companies.

  • [By Roger Nusbaum]

    ETRACS reports the yield of the underlying index to be 7.71%, which after accounting for the 0.84% "annual tracking rate" could put the fund's yield at 6.87%. DVHI will pay monthly, but the rate paid could vary. It is important to remember that with all exchange-traded products, any future yield could be more or less than what is now indicated. The individual holdings in DVHI are a combination of individual issues and exchange-traded funds. Two of the segments owned by the fund are captured with just one ETF. The PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt Portfolio (PCY) is the sole holding for emerging-market debt. For high-yield debt, DVHI goes with iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG). The two largest individual holdings in the fund are Ares Capital (ARCC), a business development company, and Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), an MLP. The composition of the fund should make it clear that the two priorities under the hood are diversification and yield. That should appeal to many investors. The fund, however, is exposed to a lot of interest rate risk. Earlier this week, markets were granted a reprieve when the Federal Reserve's Open Markets Committee announced that it wouldn't begin to reduce its bond-buying program. [Read: 5 Safest Cities in America] In late May, the committee indicated that it could reduce purchases later in the year, and as the story developed, markets participants came to believe that September was the month that a change in policy would be announced. So we know that purchases will continue as is for now, and we also know that at some point, the Fed will reduce its monthly purchases. What we don't know is when.

  • [By Dan Caplinger]

    Next Tuesday, Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC  ) will release its latest quarterly results. The key to making smart investment decisions on stocks reporting earnings is to anticipate how they'll do before they announce results, leaving you fully prepared to respond quickly to whatever inevitable surprises arise. That way, you'll be less likely to make an uninformed, knee-jerk reaction to news that turns out to be exactly the wrong move.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: VelaTel Global Communications Inc (VELA.PK)

VelaTel Global Communications Inc, formerly China Tel Group, Inc. (ChinaTel), incorporated on September 19, 2005, is engaged in the business, which combines its engineering and deployment, its equity funding relationships, its vendor partnership, radio frequency spectrum, fiber optic cable and concession rights assets acquired through a subsidiary or a joint venture relationship to create and operate wireless broadband access (WBA) networks worldwide. It offers Internet access, voice, video, and data services to the subscribers of various WBA networks it operate. The Companys secondary business is to distribute products and services used in connection with WBA networks, specifically hydrogen fuel cells used as a back-up power source for certain transmission equipment, and devices and services. As of December 31, 2011, it holds investments or contracts in ten projects: the VelaTel Peru Network; the GBNC Network; the VN Tech Fuel Cell Business; the Exclusive Services Agre ement with NGSN; the Exclusive Services Agreement with Aerostrong; the Sino Crossings Fiber Joint Venture; Zapna; the Novi-Net Network; the Montenegro Connect Network and the VeratNet Network. In April 2012, it acquired Herlong Investments Limited and its operating subsidiaries, Novi-Net and Montenegro Connect. In April 2012, it signed and closed a stock purchase agreement to acquire a 75% equity interest in Zapna, ApS. In November 2012, the Company acquired 100% of interest in China Motion Telecom (HK) Limited.

The Company sells prepaid and postpaid plans, and branded consumer devices using VelaTel Perus brand name GO MOVIL. Chinacomm holds licenses and permits from China to build and operate a 3.5-gigahertz wireless broadband telecommunications network (Chinacomm Network) in 29 cities in China. These licenses run through February 2013. Phase 1 of the Chinacomm Network consisted of the deployment of the Chinacomm Network ! in the 12 cities of Beijing, Shanghai , Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qindao, Nanjing, Chongqing, Harbin, X! ian, Xiamen, Wuhan and Kunming.. Portions of the Chinacomm Network are operational in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Perusat provides local and international long-distance telephone services, including fixed line and voice over Internet protocol (IP) services, to approximately 6,500 customers in nine cities in Peru (Lima, Arequipa, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Piura, Santa, Cusco, Ica and Huanuco). Based on its status as a licensed telephone operator, Perusat has been granted a license in the 2.5-gigahertz spectrum covering these cities, other than Lima and its surrounding metropolitan area.

The Company contracted with Chinacomm to acquire a 49% equity interest in ChinaComm Limited (Chinacomm Cayman). Trussnet Capital Partners (HK), Ltd. (TCP) acquired a 49% interest in Chinacomm Cayman. Trussnet Dalian leased Yunji equipment required in the deployment of the Chinacomm Network and provide technical and management services to Yunji for the procurement, installation and optimization of the equipment.

The Compets with GBNC, VN Tech, NGSN, Aerostrong, Sino Crossings, Novi-Net, Montenegro Connect and VeratNet.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Alan Brochstein]

    Matula, who is currently a SVP for LiveDeal (LIVE), has a history of association with penny stock failures. An interesting angle is his tie to a lawyer in Las Vegas, Michael Balabon, who purports to have two separate practices, including a bankruptcy/divorce practice and an employment law practice who has acted as Registered Agent for many of these companies. I was unable to reach anyone at either office on several occasions. In any event, Balabon is the registered agent for PLPL. Coincidentally, he served in that role for NVLX as well as well as all of the former subsidiaries and partners the firm used (the new Medical Marijuana Sciences subsidiary too). Recall that the predecessor to PLPL was Diamond Ra! nch, and ! Balabon was the RA there as well. Matula has served in I.R. roles for perpetual failures like VelaTel Global (VELA.PK).

  • source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/best-defense-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Best Services Companies To Own For 2016

Best Services Companies To Own For 2016: Solar Thin Films Inc (SLTZ)

Solar Thin Films, Inc. is engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and installation of thin-film amorphous silicon (a-Si) photovoltaic manufacturing equipment. The equipment is used in plants that produce photovoltaic thin-film a-Si solar panels or modules. The Company operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, Kraft Elektronikai Zrt (Kraft). Kraft is engaged in the design, development, manufacture, and installation of a-Si photovoltaic manufacturing equipment. The primary buyers of photovoltaic thin-film manufacturing equipment are businesses, as well as investment partnerships, engaged in the production of photovoltaic thin-film modules. In May 2010, the Company acquired Atlantis Solar LLC. In May 2013, Solar Thin Films Inc acquired Quality Resource Technologies Inc. In October 2013, Solar Thin Films Inc announced the sale of all of its ownership stake of Hungarian subsidiary, Kraft, R.t. (Kraft), to GJR Collectibles LLC.

Kraft has been providi ng equipment that is incorporated into a single manufacturing line capable of manufacturing a-Si solar modules that produce approximately 5megawatt (MW) of solar power annually. The Company focuses, directly and through joint ventures or alliances with other companies or governmental agencies, to sell equipment for and participate financially in solar power facilities using thin film a-Si solar modules or metallurgical and other crystalline solar modules as the power source to provide electricity to municipalities, businesses and consumers.

The Company competes with Applied Materials and Oerlikon.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Peter Graham]

    Small cap stocks Alliance Creative Group Inc (OTCMKTS: ACGX), Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure Inc (OTCMKTS: DJRT), Inscor Inc (OTCMKTS: IOGA) and Solar Thin Films Inc (OTCMKTS: SLTZ) have all been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters and it should co! me as no surprise that two out of four of these stocks have been the subject of paid promotions which tend to benefit traders. However, two out of four of these stocks also have pretty good financials for being small cap OTC stocks and that might make them attractive to investors with a long term time horizon. So which of these stocks might make traders some profits in the short term and investors some profits over the longer term? Here is a closer look to help you decide:

  • source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/best-services-companies-to-own-for-2016.html

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Ocean Power: Small-Cap Makes Big Waves

Wave power is the most concentrated form of renewable energy; it is predictable and dependable, explains Konrad Kuhn, editor of the small-cap advisory The KonLin Letter.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPTT) is a pioneer in wave energy technology that harnesses ocean wave resources, to generate clean and environmentally-beneficial electricity.

Its proprietary PowerBuoy system is based on modular, ocean-going buoys that capture and convert wave-energy into clean electricity. The company has a strong track record, with 15 years of in-ocean experience.

Working in conjunction with the US Navy and Hawaii Electric Co., Ocean Power's 40 kilowatt PowerBuoy—located at the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii—became the first-ever grid-connected wave energy device in the US.

Ocean Power and Lockheed Martin entered into a teaming agreement, with the goal of developing a 19 megawatt wave energy project, to provide power to up to 10,000 local residents in Portland, Oregon, and in the state of Victoria, Australia, which would be one of the largest wave energy projects in the world.

Revenues for fiscal 2013 (ended April) declined to $3.6 million, with a decrease in the net loss to $1.42 per share. The decline in revenues, and favorable decrease in net loss, related primarily to its Oregon project.

Meanwhile, Ocean Power and Mitsui Engineering & Ship Building (MIESF) announced an agreement to commercialize OPTT's PowerBuoy technology. On October 31, 2013, OPTT was awarded a $2.6 million contract by MIESF, for development of a Japan Utility PowerBuoy system.

In addition, Ocean Power's project in Spain achieved an important milestone. The development of a new wave prediction model assesses the characteristics of incoming waves before they reach the PowerBuoy, thereby providing more time for OPTT's electronic timing capability to react.

This is expected to boost the power output of their cutting-edge PowerBuoys and reduce cost-per-megawatt hour of energy produced.

We originally recommended the stock at $2.91 a share in February 2012. It has been in a bottoming process, making higher lows, and we re-recommended the shares at $1.70 in October. We continue to recommend purchase up to $2.10 a share.

Subscribe to The KonLin Letter here…

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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Have the Worries Returned to Broad and Wall?

After finishing in the green nine of the last 10 days, it wasn't exactly surprising to see the bears attempt to get back in the game on Wednesday and for the stock market to pull back a bit.

After all, the S&P had stepped lively to a gain of six percent in just two weeks and 11.5 percent since late-June, which is the very definition of an overbought condition.

In short, it was only a matter of time before something came along to give the bears a raison d'être and cause the buyers to stand aside.

Is Anyone Left to Buy?

One of the problems with just about everyone in the game having access to news, data, and charting tools at the drop of a hat (well, okay, the data actually hits screens much faster than the time it takes for a hat to fall to the floor - think about that for a while!) is that everybody under the sun knows that the trend is up and has been for two weeks. Everybody knows that the stochastics are screaming about an overbought condition. Everybody knows there is a gap on the chart of the S&P 500 at 1733.45 and that it will likely be filled sooner rather than later. And everybody knows that the move has become extended.

When a trend moves in a straight-up fashion, the issue becomes who is left to buy? Okay, perhaps that's more of an old school view. Nowadays, the better question might be who in their right mind would chase stocks higher at this juncture?

Today's market participants tend to be more trading oriented than the soccer mom's trading internet stocks in the late 1990's. Today, everyone wants to be the "fast money." As such, today's traders are well aware when markets become overbought and have been trained to wait for a pullback before committing fresh capital to the long side.

A Self-Fulfilling Move

After a straight-up move such as has been seen over the past two weeks, the idea of a pullback becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everybody knows that only the "dumb money" buys high. No, today's sophisticated traders only buy t! he dips!

So, Wednesday's little dip was not at all surprising. In fact, the only real surprise is that stocks didn't finish down more. With the buyers waiting for a dip, the sellers would appear to have the upper hand in this type of situation. Thus, today's action could be quite telling. But more on that in a minute.

The Worries

Whenever the bulls are on a roll, something usually comes out of the woodwork to trigger the start of a pullback, a correction, or at the very least, a "sloppy period." And Wednesday was no exception.

Here's the run down on the issues traders were suddenly fretting about.

Money Market Rates in China: Money market rates in China jumped by the highest amount since July after regulators suggested that cash conditions could be tightened to address the risks of inflation stemming from the ongoing run-up in house prices.

Chinese Bank Write-offs: A Bloomberg report noted that China's large banks had tripled the amount of bad loan write-offs compared to the levels seen in the first half of the year.

European Banks (Yes, Again): The ECB put the focus back on Europe's shaky banking system by outlining some details of the stress tests the central bank wants to apply to all eurozone banks. The European bank index dove nearly 2 percent on the report.

Earnings Disappointments: While the earnings season has been largely positive, there was some spin in the press yesterday about high-profile earnings misses. Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) let the charge here by missing the EPS estimate by 13 percent, missing on revenues, and guiding lower. In addition, semis were under attack all day thanks to Altera's (NASDAQ: ALTR) report, which resulted in a decline of 13.5 percent. Even a former consumer discretionary leader, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) got into the act by falling 5.7 percent on the session after cutting both its Q4 and full-year outlooks.

Overbought Conditions: This was touched on above. But to drive the point home, Bespoke Investment Group r! eported t! hat all ten S&P 500 sectors closed Tuesday in extreme overbought territory (defined as at least two standard deviations above 50-day moving averages). Bespoke noted that going back to 1990, there have only been two days when there has been a similar reading. Thus, the "overbought condition" seemed to be one of the go-to excuses for the session.

Top 5 Penny Stocks To Buy For 2016

Something Serious or Just Excuses Du Jour?

So there you have it; the reasons that the Citadels of the world were likely running "ignition algos" to the downside yesterday. However, the question of the day is if any of the issues detailed above are worthy of traders' full attention for more than a day or two.

Since using a crystal ball is not a strong option for most investors, it is probably best to simply watch the action closely for the rest of the week. If stocks are hit hard, then one could argue that the recent joyride to the upside has ended. However, if the pullback is weak and the buyers appear anxious to get back to work, there could easily be some additional upside ahead.

free copy of Dave's Special Report on changes in the current market

Monday, May 18, 2015

Trial of 5 ex-Madoff employees gets underway

NEW YORK — The trial of five former employees of Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernard Madoff opened Wednesday with a prosecutor branding the defendants as active participants in the notorious fraud that stole billions of dollars from average investors, charities, financial firms and others.

The jury — eight women, four men and six alternates — listened as Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Schwartz said the defendants fabricated stock trades, created phony books and records, built a computer program that automated the scam and lied to investors, regulators and banks for decades.

Their actions allegedly helped perpetuate the elaborate fiction that Madoff generated eerily steady returns from stock trades when in reality he was using some customers' money to pay others.

"For more than 30 years, Bernard Madoff ran a multi-billion dollar fraud that turned out to be the largest Ponzi scheme in history," said Schwartz. "These are the people who helped him do it."

During a more than hour long opening government statement, Schwartz pointed at each of the five in turn and then outlined their alleged role in the conspiracy. Madoff could not have kept such an elaborate scheme running for decades alone, said Schwartz.

JoAnn Crupi and Annette Bongiorno decided which stocks and bonds to say that Madoff had purchased when in fact there were virtually no trades, said Schwartz.

Jerome O'Hara and George Perez "created customized computer programs that automated the lying," said Schwartz.

Daniel Bonventre "cooked the books," hiding the scheme from banks and regulators and even helping Madoff evade taxes for decades, said Schwartz.

Why did they do it, asked Schwartz. "The most simple reason of all: greed."

Crupi grew wealthy working for Madoff, buying a $2.7 million beach house with money allegedly stolen from the scam and even charging personal expenses to the Madoff firm's corporate card, he said.

Bongiorno similarly raked in millions of dollars and also withdrew $! 2,000 weekly in "walking around" money on top of the other stolen funds, Schwartz said.

O'Hara and Perez collected more than $100,000 each from the scam and once hit up Madoff for a payment in diamonds so the transaction couldn't be traced, said Schwartz.

And Bonventre got more than $1 million he used to pay common charges on his Manhattan apartment, his country club bill, a son's tuition bill and other personal expenses, he said.

The government's opening statement offered the first inside glimpse into the workings of the scheme. Schwartz said prosecutors plan to present evidence and testimony from investigators, banks, and even some investors who were conned out of their life savings by the scam during a trial that is expected to last as long as five months.

Prosecutors have listed up to 100 potential government witnesses. The star is expected to be Frank DiPascali, Madoff's former chief financial officer. The 57-year-old Queens, N.Y. native waived indictment by a grand jury and pleaded guilty to ten counts of conspiracy, fraud and other charges in Aug. 2009.

"I'm standing here to say that from the early 1990s until December 2008, I helped Bernie Madoff and other people carry out a fraud," DiPascali said at that plea hearing.

Defense lawyers were scheduled to give their opening statements Thursday.

Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 without standing trial. Now 75, he's serving a 150-year federal prison sentence at a medium-security federal prison in Butner, N.C.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Top 5 Oil Service Stocks To Own Right Now

Top 5 Oil Service Stocks To Own Right Now: MICROS Systems Inc (MCRS)

MICROS Systems, Inc. (MICROS), incorporated on September 8, 1977, is a global designer, manufacturer, marketer, and servicer of enterprise information solutions for the global hospitality and retail industries. The Company operates in two segments: the United States/Canada and International. The retail industry consists of retail operations selling directly to consumers, including retailers of clothing, shoes, food, hardware, jewelry, and other specialty items. Its enterprise information solutions consists three areas: hotel information systems, restaurant information systems and retail information systems. In addition to its software enterprise solutions and hardware products, it offers a range of services and other products for its hotel, restaurant and retail information systems. The hotel information systems consist of software, encompassing property based management systems (PMS), related property-specific modules and applications, and central systems, including centr al reservation systems (CRS). The restaurant information systems consist of hardware and software for point-of-sale (POS) and operational applications, a range of back office applications, including inventory, labor and financial management, and centrally hosted enterprise applications. The retail information systems consist of hardware and software encompassing POS, loss prevention, Web commerce applications, business analytics, customer gift cards, electronic payments and enterprise applications. Its retail solutions are provided through its MICROS-Retail group of subsidiaries, which includes Datavantage, CommercialWare, Advance Retail Systems (Mexico), MICROS Retail and Manufacturing Ltd. (United Kingdom), eOne, Fry, Fortech (Italy), MICROS eCommerce EAME (London), and MICROS Retail Austria GmbH. On May 31, 2012, MICROS acquired Torex Retail Holdings, Ltd. of Dun! stable, England (Torex).

Hotel Information Systems

For the hotel and resort industry, the Company develops, distributes, and supports a range of ! hotel software products and services under the OPERA brand name. Its OPERA suite includes PMS, sales and catering, CRS, customer information system, revenue management, sales support, data mining, financial statements, condominium reservations and accounting, golf reservations, spa management, and quality management. It also offers a range for OPERA, which enables guest check-in and check-out, and other interactive features, through a kiosk.

The PMS software provides for hotel room check-in and checkout, reservations, guest accounting, travel agent accounting, and engineering management. The PMS software also interfaces to central reservation systems, to on-line travel services, and to global distribution systems. The OPERA sales and catering software enables hotel sales staff to evaluate, reserve and invoice meetings, banquets and related events for a property. The OPERA CRS software enables hotels to coordinate, process, track, and analyze hotel room reservati ons at a central facility for electronic distribution to the appropriate lodging site. The OPERA revenue management software enables hotels to manage room rates, occupancy, and the mix of business between corporate and transient customers. It also offers an Internet-based hotel reservation service through its myfidelio.net service. This service enables corporations, tourist representation services, and consumers to reserve rooms and manage reservations directly with designated hotels. This service also enables those hotel properties without internal reservation capabilities to outsource to us the maintenance of their connectivity to the global distribution systems and certain alternative distribution systems. The Company offers limited versions of the OPERA property management system called OPERA Xpress, OPERA Lite, and Operetta. As of June 30, 2012, approxim! ately 20,! 200 hotel sites have installed either OPERA, OPERA Xpress PMS, OPERA Lite, or Operetta.

OPERA ru ns on two operating systems: Microsoft Windows (Server and X! P) and IB! M AIX, and uses an Oracle database. It offers hosting services for hotel customers in various data centers globally (including Ashburn and Manassas, Virginia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Frankfurt, Germany, and Singapore) with the OPERA applications accessed through Internet or high speed connections. In addition to OPERA, it supports a range of hotel software products (PMS and other modules) under the Fidelio Version 7.0 brand name. Fidelio Version 7.0 uses the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface and runs on an Oracle database. As of June 30, 2012, approximately 2,875 hotels were using Fidelio Version 7.0. The Company also markets a PMS product in Europe under the brand name Fidelio Version 8. This product uses the Windows operating system with an Oracle database. As of June 30, 2012, the product was installed in over 3,750 hotel sites.

Through the Company's subsidiary Fidelio Cruise, it markets the Ships Property Management System (SPMS) suite of applica tions, which includes a PMS product designed for use by the cruise industry. The SPMS application enables cruise operators to manage passenger, visitor, group, and crew information at various stages from check-in to check-out, invoicing, credit card handling with online functionality, safety and security, and automated check-in with picture taking for passengers, crew, and visitors. The software maintains the count of passengers and staff on-board, as required by international industry regulations. In addition SPMS modules support the operation of on-board health spas, on-board MICROS point-of-sale systems, on-board business centers, on-board medical centers, and on-board casinos, as well as shore excursions. It also markets Fidelio Cruise Crew Management System, which supports the shore side and shipboard crew resource operations for a cruise ship,! and the ! Fidelio Cruise Fleet Management System, which enables fleet-wide data analysis for cruise ship operators. Fidelio Cruis e software is installed on approximately 220 cruise ships.

Restaurant Information Systems

The Company's restaurant systems include POS applications, kitchen product applications, mobile applications, marketing applications, and hardware. Its front-of-house restaurant products operate on either industry standard personal computers (PCs) or terminals that have additional functionality and design appropriate for food service environments. The workstations the Company has designed, and which it markets and sells, are the Workstation 5A and 2015 PC Workstation. It also integrates other hardware devices into its complete product offerings.

Workstation 5A is a PC based POS terminal using Microsoft's Embedded CE 6.0 and POSReady 2009 operating systems. The MICROS 2015 PC Workstation is a POS terminal designed to operate its restaurant applications and other third party PC-based software applications. The product uses Intel chip architecture. It can be configured to accommodate memory and storage requirement s. The product supports Microsoft operating systems and Linux.

The Protege Customer Display System and MICROS Order Confirmation Systems are designed for the quick service restaurant market, and provide information to a restaurant's customers regarding their order. The Protege Customer Display System is connected to a MICROS Workstation. It is a Microsoft Windows CE client equipped with a touchscreen allowing for interactive use. The MICROS Order Confirmation System is also a Microsoft Windows CE client, and provides order detail through a remote 15 inches daylight viewable display. It also markets a product named the Keyboard Workstation 270. This product enables orders to be entered through the MICROS Simphony and 9700 HMS through a workstation with a keyboard interface in lieu of a touchscreen. The Keyboard Workstation is ! used in i! nstitutional food service environments, convention centers, and sports complexes. Through its JTECH subsidiary, it offers pagers , wireless systems, alert software, and related products for! use in r! estaurants, retail, medical, and other environments.

The Company resells various other hardware products, including personal computers, servers, printers, network cards, and other related computer equipment. The Company's restaurant POS software systems are Simphony, the MICROS Restaurant Enterprise Series (3700 POS) system, the MICROS 9700 Hospitality Management System (HMS), Hospitality Solution's Profit Series, and the MICROS e7 Series. These systems provide transaction control for table service, quick service and food service and entertainment venues. Its design architecture enables existing users of MICROS POS products to access third party software applications in conjunction with their existing MICROS POS systems. In addition, MICROS restaurant information system products interface with back office accounting and property management systems, including its hotel PMS products.

The Simphony software solution is designed to be an all-inclusiv e software application for use by table service restaurants, quick service restaurants, and enterprise operations. It is capable of operating at single site venues, such as airport and other travel-related food service concessions, casinos, theme parks, and resorts as well multi-unit quick service and table service restaurant operations. The enterprise Simphony database is supported either by Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle. As of June 30, 2012, MICROS has installed over 9,300 sites with Simphony, and hosts approximately 800 of those sites.

The MICROS 9700 HMS is designed for leisure and entertainment venues, which include resorts, casinos, airport and other travel-related food service concessions, stadiums/arenas, theme parks, table service and quick service restaurants in hotels, and restaurants. The MICROS 3700 POS ! is design! ed for table service and quick service restaurants. It has an open systems architecture using the Microsoft's Windows operating system a nd a Sybase relational database, and can run on standard PCs! or works! tations. It uses a color touch screen with a Microsoft Windows based graphical user interface.

The Company markets a range of back office and operation focused software solutions, which extend beyond point-of-sale. The suite is called the MICROS Restaurant Enterprise Series (RES). The MICROS RES software solutions include point-of-sale transaction control, restaurant operations, data analysis, and communications. The POS software comprises the front-end application for the RES system. The restaurant operations modules include inventory, product forecasting, labor management, financial management, gift cards, customer loyalty and enterprise data management. Other components include Mobile MICROS and MICROS RES Kiosk, which enables customer information and self-ordering on third-party kiosks or directly through the use of smart phones and tablets.

For management of multiple restaurants, MICROS RES includes a range of software products called Enterpri se Management. This suite enables data to be transmitted to a remote site for data collection and analysis. In addition, pricing and menu changes can be made from a remote site and downloaded to specified restaurant locations. It also markets a POS system called MICROS e7. This product runs on the MICROS Workstation 5 and 5A series and uses the Microsoft Windows CE Operating system. The Company markets an Internet-based portal product called mymicros.net. The mymicros.net product posts restaurant transaction POS detail to a centralized data warehouse in near real time. This product enables the customer to view reports and charts for a single site, a group of restaurants, or the entire enterprise from any location that has an Internet connection. In addition, mymicros.net incorporates additional products for inventory man! agement, ! labor scheduling and control, gift cards, loyalty cards and other marketing programs. The mymicros.net software product can either be purchased thro ugh a perpetual use license or by an annual or multi-year so! ftware-as! -a-service (SaaS) subscription contract. It hosts mymicros.net, Simphony, and other hosted POS-related applications in the same data centers where it offers hosting services for its OPERA PMS. As of June 30, 2012, it hosted applications supporting over 29,000 restaurants.

Retail Information Systems

Through the Company's MICROS-Retail group of subsidiaries (MICROS-Retail), it markets retail store software systems, direct commerce solutions and business intelligence applications. The retail store software systems are called Store21 Store Management System (Store21), Tradewind Store Management System (Tradewind) and Xstore Store Management System (Xstore). Store21 is a POS product designed for specialty retailers. The products operate on Microsoft's Windows NT and 2000 and 2003 operating systems and use a Sybase database. Both products can be integrated with the retailer's back office systems, and it also offers additional back office, communicat ions, and reporting modules for use with Tradewind and Store21.

Xstore is the Company's retail POS software system. It is a full service oriented architecture (SOA) compliant architecture. It runs on the Sun Microsystems Java operating system, and its architecture enables it to be integrated to both Windows and Linux-based back office systems. It can operate on any Java compatible operating system and database. Like Store21 and Tradewind, its predecessor products, Xstore is a front-end POS software system. Xstore is designed to run in a Windows or a Linux environment, while Store21 and Tradewind, as designed, can operate only in a Windows environment.

The Company offers the MICROS-Retail Home Office Business Intelligence Suite for retail stores, which includes loss prevention (market! ed under ! the trade name XBR), customer relationship management, gift cards (marketed under the trade name Relate), and audit control (marketed under the trade name Bal ance). It also offers XBR to its restaurant customers throug! h MICROS ! provided centrally hosted or self-hosted environment. MICROS-Retail also offers in-store mobile solutions with Apple Corporation's iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad systems. These solutions enable the store associate to ring up sales, handle inventory and service customers using the mobile devices. MICROS-Retail offers an eCommerce platform with features, marketed under the trade name Open Commerce Platform, as well as creative and design services to help customers create custom Websites.

MICROS-Retail offers order management and order broker software and services (marketed under the trade names CW Serenade and Locate, respectively), which enable a retailer to manage customer purchase transactions through multiple sources, including a store, the Internet, catalog phone-in orders, call centers, kiosks, and wireless devices. MICROS-Retail develops, supports, and distributes software solutions, which provides for collaborative end-to-end product and supplier lifecycle management and ingredient legal compliance tracking under the names Creations and myCreations. Creations and myCreations customers include accounts, such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Wm Morrison, Sobeys, H.E. Butt, Metro, Kodak, Bodyshop and Booker.

The Company provides a range of services to its customers, including system installation, operator and manager training, on-site hardware maintenance, customized software development, application software support and credit card software support. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), service revenue constituted approximately 65.6% of its total revenue. Maintenance service contracts include on-site and depot hardware maintenance, application software support, credit card software support, and software hosting. The Company provi! des on-si! te hardware maintenance and software support through a combination of direct and indirect channels. The on-site hardware maintenance is provided to customers using MICR OS POS hardware and software systems. It also operates other! more lim! ited help desk operations, including Fidelio Cruise support desks in Hamburg, Germany and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the JTECH help desk in Boca Raton, Florida, and a help desk in Scottsdale, Arizona for certain legacy POS products. Its corporate customer support center in Columbia, Maryland provides back-up support for its regional centers in Buenos Aires, Singapore, and Galway, and its research and development operation in Naples, Florida, provides support for its hotel software products. The regional support centers also provide back-up support and guidance for local and in-country support providers.

The Company operates data centers in Ashburn and Manassas, Virginia, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Frankfurt, Nottingham, England, and Singapore in conjunction with third-party vendors to serve as hosting centers for customers deploying its hosted and application service products. It offers Website design and portal management services, for the retail industry. These inc lude the development and management a customer's Website for ordering, sales promotion, and marketing. It also offers Web based marketing services to hotels, restaurants and retail companies.

The Company competes with NCR, Panasonic, Par Technology, Sharp, Agilysys, Positouch, Xpient Solutions, Casio, Dell, HP, IBM, Toshiba, Multi-Systems, Newmarket, Northwind, Par Technology, Protel, Softbrands, Pegasus, Trust International/TravelPort, Vantis, Sabre, TravelClick, Epicor, Escalate Retail, JDA Software, Oracle, SAP, DemandWare and eBay.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Vera Yuan]

    On June 23, 2014, MICROS Systems, Inc. (MCRS) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Oracle Corporation at a premium to the Fund's cost. Fol! lowing th! e news of the announcement, the Fund sold its remaining holdings in MICROS Systems, Inc., believing the acquirer paid a fair price.From Robert Olstein (Trades, Portfolio)'s The Olstein Strategic Opportunities Fund's 2014 Second Quarter Letter to Shareholders.Also check out: Robert Olstein Undervalued Stocks Robert Olstein Top Growth Companies Robert Olstein High Yield stocks, and Stocks that Robert Olstein keeps buying Currently 0.00/512345

    Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes)

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) announced its plans to buy Micros Systems (NASDAQ: MCRS) in a $5.3 billion deal.

    The offer price of $68 per share represents a 3.4% premium over Micros' closing price on Friday.

  • [By Garrett Cook]

    Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) announced its plans to buy Micros Systems (NASDAQ: MCRS) in a $5.3 billion deal.

    The offer price of $68 per share represents a 3.4% premium over Micros' closing price on Friday.

  • source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-5-oil-service-stocks-to-own-right-now-2.html