Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014

Our featured stocks are selected based on the investing criteria of several legendary investors. Telecom Argentina SA (TEO) has a guru score of 100% based on the price-to-sales strategy of Kenneth Fisher.

Indeed, based on the Kenneth Fisher's price-to-sale strategy, Telecom Argentina would be considered a "Super Stock".

Under Kenneth Fisher's strategy, the prospective company should have a low Price/Sales ratio. Companies with Price/Sales ratios below 0.75 are tremendous values and should be sought.

Telecom Argentina's P/S of 0.63 based on trailing 12 month sales, is below 0.75 which is considered quite attractive. It passes this methodology's P/S ratio test with flying colors.

Top 10 Growth Stocks To Watch Right Now: Exone Co (XONE)

The ExOne Company, incorporated on December 21, 2012, is engaged in manufacturing and selling three-dimensional (3D) printing machines and printing products to specification for its customers using its in-house 3D printing machines. The Company provides 3D printing machines, 3D printed products and related services to industrial customers in the aerospace, automotive, heavy equipment, energy/oil/gas and other industries. It offers pre-production collaboration and print products for customers through its production service centers (PSCs), which are located in the United States, Germany and Japan. On January 1, 2013, the Company merged its predecessor company, The Ex One Company, LLC, with and into EXO Acquisitions Inc., which changed its name to The ExOne Company.

The Company produces an array of materialization systems to support a range of customer needs and facility requirements. It offers two printers on the world market for 3D printing of sand and metal materials, offering build sizes as large as 1800 x 1000 x 700 mm (70 x 39 x 27 in.) for sand and 780 x 400 x 400 mm (30.7 x 15.75 x 15.75 in.) for metal. It also offers Orion short pulse laser systems, utilizing a five-axis machine tool with four additional axes available on the trepanning head. The Company builds 3D printing machines at its facilities in the United States and Germany. The Company also supplies the associated products, including consumables and replacement parts, and services, including training and technical support, necessary for purchasers of its machines to print products. The Company�� 3D printing machines are able to manufacture casting molds and cores from specialty silica sand and ceramics, which are the traditional materials for these casting products.

The Company competes with 3D Systems Corporation, Stratasys Inc., Solidscape, Inc. and Objet Ltd., EOS Optronics GmbH, EnvisionTEC GmbH, and Solid Model Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  It hasn't been a knd year to shareholders of ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE  ) , our leading industrial 3-D printer. Shares are down 50% in 2014; the last two times quarterly reports were released, the stock dipped an average of 13%. And if that weren't enough, almost half of the company's shares are currently being shorted.

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  3D printing is supposed to be the next big thing. We have noted earlier that it has been called the next bubble� by some investors. Unfortunately, two 3D printing outfits have issued cautious guidance in the last twenty-four hours. The first was Stratasys Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSYS), and now we have a warning from The ExOne Company (NASDAQ: XONE). 3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) managed to escape the carnage on Tuesday during the day, but that appears to no longer be the case.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  If the two analyses sound similar, well, they are. And Germany-based Voxeljet AG (NYSE: VJET) and The ExOne Co. (NASDAQ: XONE) are also getting a lift from the raised target prices at Stratasys and 3D Systems. That shouldn�� be a big shocker because an underpenetrated market with a potential for higher unit sales and more sales of consumables could pretty easily describe Voxeljet and ExOne.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Investors lost confidence in the stock market on Thursday, as many market commentators started to consider the possibility that the long-awaited correction in the major market benchmarks could finally be happening. With small-cap stocks having already fallen substantially from their highs earlier this year, those bearish arguments took on more weight. But company-specific issues weighed on E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG  ) , ExOne (NASDAQ: XONE  ) , and Arctic Cat (NASDAQ: ACAT  ) today, leading to much more dramatic losses for those stocks.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: KBB Resources Bhd (KBB)

KBB Resources Berhad is an investment holding company. The Company is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli), sago starch and related products. The Company�� product includes Rice Vermicelli, Instant Noodle, Instant Bihun, Laksa and Sago. The Company�� subsidiaries include Kilang Bihun Bersatu Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in Manufacturing and marketing of all types of rice and sago sticks (vermicelli); Rasayang Food Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of beehoon and beehoon laksa; Bersatu Noodles Industries Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and trading of noodles and related products, and Bersatu Biotechnology (Johore) Sdn Bhd, which is engaged in manufacturing and marketing of all types of sago starch and related products. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Neha Marwah]

  LMC Automotive expects the annualized rate to be 16.1 million, the best in six years. This is a decent improvement from last year�� November, when the industry reported 15.3 million as the adjusted annualized rate. In comparison, Kelley Blue Book (KBB) expects the November 2013 SAAR to be around 15.6 million, while Edmunds.com estimates it to be 15.7 million.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: Chesapeake Lodging Trust (CHSP)

Chesapeake Lodging Trust (the Trust) is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT). The Trust is focused on investments primarily in upper-upscale hotels in business and convention markets and, on a selective basis, select-service and extended-stay hotels in urban settings or locations in the United States of America. All of the Trust�� assets are held by, and all of its operations are conducted through, Chesapeake Lodging, L.P., its operating partnership (the Operating Partnership). The Operating Partnership leases its hotels to CHSP TRS LLC (CHSP TRS), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership. CHSP TRS engages hotel management companies to operate the hotels pursuant to management agreements. CHSP TRS is a taxable REIT subsidiary (TRS). As of December 31, 2011, the Trust owned 12 hotels with an aggregate of 3,516 rooms in six states and the District of Columbia. In August 2012, the Company acquired the 520-room W Chicago-Lakeshore located in Chicago, Illinois from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (Starwood). The Trust entered into a long-term management agreement with Starwood to continue operating the hotel under the W flag. In September 2012, it acquired the 429-room Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, located in San Diego, California. In October 2012, the Company acquired 222-room The Hotel Minneapolis, a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel, located in Minneapolis. In March 2013, the Company acquired 185-room Hyatt Place New York Midtown South, located in New York. In April 2013, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc completed the sale of W New Orleans - French Quarter to Chesapeake Lodging Trust. In April 2013, Chesapeake Lodging Trust acquires W New Orleans From Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. In June 2013, Chesapeake Lodging Trust purchased the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf from Hyatt Hotels Corp. Effective June 27, 2013, Chesapeake Lodging Trust acquired Hyatt Santa Barbara.

On December 22, 2011, the Trust acquired Holiday Inn ! New York City Midtown, which had 122 rooms. On October 3, 2011, the Trust acquired Denver Marriott City Center hotel, which had 613 rooms. On July 8, 2011, it acquired Hotel Adagio, which consisted of 171 rooms. On June 30, 2011, the Trust acquired Courtyard Washington Capitol Hill/Navy Yard hotel, which had 204 rooms. On June 17, 2011, it acquired Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, which consisted of 210 rooms. On May 10, 2011, the Trust acquired W Chicago - City Center hotel, which had 368 rooms. On May 2, 2011, it acquired Homewood Suites Seattle Convention Center hotel, which had 195 rooms.

The Company has management agreements with third parties to manage its hotels. The Trust's hotel managers provide managerial and other hotel employees, oversee operations and maintenance, prepare reports, budgets and projections and provide other administrative and accounting support services. Its management agreements provide for base management fees ranging from 1% to 4% of gross hotel revenues and incentive compensation if hotel operating income. Of its 12 hotels, seven operates pursuant to franchise agreements from international hotel companies. The Trust�� lease agreements are inter-company agreements between its property-owning subsidiaries and its TRS lessees.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Our first stop is Cheaspeake Lodging Trust (CHSP), which made the cut after two directors at the hotel REIT snapped up shares. Thomas Eckert bought 16,000 shares for $354,000 and John Hill bought 4,000 for $90,400.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Real estate investment trust�Chesapeake Lodging Trust� (NYSE: CHSP  ) �announced yesterday its second-quarter dividend of $0.24 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 9% from $0.22 per share.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: Titan Company Ltd (TITAN)

Titan Company Limited, formerly Titan Industries Limited, is engaged in manufacturing of watches/accessories, jewelry, precision engineering and eyewear. The Company has four divisions: watches/accessories, jewelry, precision engineering and eyewear. As of March 31, 2012, the Company had 332 World of Titan stores. As of March 31, 2012, the Company had over three business units in Bangalore, India, a manufacturing unit at Hosur and three assembly plants located in the north of India. The brands under the watches/accessories division include: Titan, Sonata, Fastrack, Xylys and others. Tanishq is Titan�� line of jewelry with a range of jewelry, studded with diamonds or colored gems in 18-karat gold, 22-karat gold and platinum jewelry. Under eyewear division, there is a brand named Titan Eye plus. The precision engineering division includes machine building and automation solutions and tooling solutions. In March 2013, Titan Properties Ltd. was amalgamated with the Company. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James Miller Phd]

  Peers like Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) present strong competition in the could-based CRM market, and have been enhancing their companies through various acquisitions such as recently acquired Nimbula, Eloqua Inc., RightNow Technologies and Taleo Corp from Oracle, or MarketingPilot and Netbreeze from Microsoft. Competition is moreover expected to increase with the introduction of Microsoft Dynamics CRM software (Titan). Nevertheless, Salesforce has also been strengthening its product portfolio and expanding within the cloud based CRM services.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: China XD Plastics Company Ltd (CXDC)

China XD Plastics Company Limited (China XD), incorporated on November 16, 1999, is a specialty chemical companies engaged in the research, development, manufacture and sale of modified plastics primarily for automotive applications in China. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Harbin Xinda Macromolecule Material Co., Ltd. (Harbin Xinda), the Company manufactures and sells modified plastics, primarily for use in the fabrication of automobiles parts and components. China XD develops its products using its technology through its wholly owned research laboratory, Harbin Xinda Macromolecule Material Research Center Co., Ltd. (Xinda Macromolecule Research Center). Xinda Macromolecule Research Center is a macromolecular material research and development institution. On March 31, 2011, Harbin Xinda established a wholly owned subsidiary, Harbin Xinda Macromolecule Material Testing Technical Co., Ltd. (Testing Technical), to develop a testing laboratory and provide testing services of macromolecule materials, engineering plastics and other products.

The Company's modified plastics are used by its customers to fabricate the auto components, such as exteriors (automobile bumpers, rearview and sideview mirrors, license plate parts), interiors (door panels, dashboard, steering wheel, glove compartment and safety belt components), and functional components (air conditioner casing, heating and ventilation casing, engine covers, and air ducts). The Company's specialized plastics are utilized in more than 23 automobile brands manufactured in China, including brands, such as AUDI, BMW, Toyota, Buick, Mazda, Volkswagen, Cherry, Geely, and Hafei new energy vehicles. The Company operates three manufacturing bases in Harbin, Heilongjiang in the People's Republic of China (PRC). As of December 31, 2011, the Company had approximately 165,000 metric tons of annual production capacity across 38 automatic production lines utilizing German twin-screw extruding systems, automatic weighing systems and Taiwan conveyer! systems. In December 2011, the Company launched its third production base in Harbin, which has 90,000 metric tons of annual production capacity across 20 new production lines installed in two completed factories.

The Company�� products are organized into seven categories, based on their physical characteristics: Modified PP, Modified ABS, Modified PA, Engineering Plastics, Alloy Plastic, Environmentally friendly plastics and Modified Plastic for Special Engineering. Modified PP includes brands, such as COMPNIPER, COMPWIPER and COMPGOPER. COMPNIPER products are primarily used for the interior parts, such as inner panels, instrument panels and box lids. COMPWIPER products are primarily used for external parts, such as the front and back bumpers and mudguards. COMPGOPER products are used for functional components, such as the unit heater shells and air conditioner shells. Modified ABS includes the MOALLOLY brand, which is used in functional components, such as heat dissipating grids and wheel covers. Modified PA�� brand is POLGPAMR, which is used in parts requiring high flame and heat resistance.

The Company�� Engineering Plastics product group includes the MOAMIOLY brand, which is used in engine hoods, intake manifold and bearings. BRBSPCL is Alloy Plastic�� brand, which is used in rearview mirrors, grilles, automotive electronics and other components. Products can also be used in computers, plasma televisions and mobile phones. POLGBSMR is the brand under the Company�� Environmentally friendly plastics product group. Modified Plastic for Special Engineering�� brand is PEEK, which is used in communications and transport, electronics and electrical appliances, machinery, medical and analytical equipment.

The Company competes with Guangzhou Kingfa Science & Technology Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Pret Composites Co., Ltd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  China XD Plastics Company (NASDAQ: CXDC) shares rose 6.34% to touch a new 52-week high of $8.39 after the company reported its Q1 earnings of $0.34 per share.

• [By Monica Gerson]

  China XD Plastics Company (NASDAQ: CXDC) shares gained 4.17% to touch a new 52-week high of $6.01. China XD Plastics' trailing-twelve-month revenue is $1.05 billion.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: LHC Group Inc (LHCG)

LHC Group, Inc. (LHC Group), incorporated on January 1, 2005, provides post-acute health care services to patients through its home nursing agencies, hospices and long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). As of December 31, 2012, through the Company's wholly- and majority-owned subsidiaries, equity joint ventures and controlled affiliates, the Company operated in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington. The Company operates in two segments: home-based services and facility-based services. As of December 31, 2012, the Company owned and operated 274 home-based service locations, with 232 home nursing agency locations, 32 hospices, three specialty agencies and four private duty agencies. In February 2014, LHC Group Inc acquired two home health providers.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company also managed the operations of three home nursing agencies in which the Company does not have an ownership interest. The Company's facility-based services included six long-term acute care hospitals with nine locations, a pharmacy, and a family health center. The Company provides home-based post-acute health care services through its home nursing agencies and hospices. The Company's home nursing locations offer a wide range of services, including skilled nursing, medically-oriented social services and physical, occupational and speech therapy. The nurses, home health aides and therapists in the Company's home nursing agencies work closely with patients and their families to design and implement individualized treatments in accordance with a physician-prescribed plan of care.

The Company's hospices provide end-of-life care to patients with terminal illnesses through interdisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, home health aides, counselors and volunteers. Of the 274 home-based services locations, 140 are wholly-owned by the Company, 124 ar! e majority-owned or controlled by the Company through joint ventures, seven are operated through license lease arrangements, and the Company manages the operations of three home nursing agencies in which the Company has no ownership interest.

The Company's LTACH locations provide services primarily to patients with complex medical conditions who have transitioned out of a hospital intensive care unit but whose conditions remain too severe for treatment in a non-acute setting. As of December 31, 2012, the Company's LTACHs had 220 licensed beds. Of the Company's 11 facility-based services locations, six are wholly-owned by the Company and five are majority-owned or controlled by the Company through joint ventures.

Home-Based Services

The Company�� registered and licensed practical nurses provide a range of medically necessary services to homebound patients who are suffering from acute or chronic illness, recovering from injury or surgery, or who otherwise require care, teaching or monitoring. These services include wound care and dressing changes; cardiac rehabilitation; infusion therapy; pain management; pharmaceutical administration; skilled observation and assessment, and patient education. It has also designed guidelines to treat chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, Alzheimer�� disease, low vision, spinal stenosis, Parkinson�� disease, osteoporosis, complex wound care and chronic pain. Its home health aides provide assistance with daily living activities, such as light housekeeping, simple meal preparation, medication management, bathing and walking. Through its medical social workers, it counsels patients and their families with regard to financial, personal and social concerns that arise from a patient�� health-related problems.

The Company provides skilled nursing, ventilator and tracheotomy services, extended care specialties, medication administration and management, and patient and family assistance an! d educati! on. It also provides management services to third-party home nursing agencies, often as an interim solution until proper state and regulatory approvals for an acquisition can be obtained. The Company�� physical, occupational and speech therapists provide therapy services to patients in their home. Its therapists coordinate multi-disciplinary treatment plans with physicians, nurses and social workers to restore basic mobility skills, such as getting out of bed and walking safely with crutches or a walker. Its therapists assist patients and their families with improving and maintaining a patient�� ability to perform functional activities of daily living, such as the ability to dress, cook, clean and manage other activities safely in the home environment. Its speech and language therapists provide corrective and rehabilitative treatment to patients who suffer from physical or cognitive deficits or disorders that create difficulty with verbal communication or swallowing.

All of the Company�� home nursing agencies offer 24-hour personal emergency response and support services through Philips Lifeline (Lifeline) for qualified patients who require close medical monitoring but who want to maintain an independent lifestyle. These services consist principally of a communicator that connects to the telephone line in the subscriber�� home and a personal help button that is worn or carried by the individual subscriber which, when activated, initiates a telephone call from the subscriber�� communicator to Lifeline�� central monitoring facilities. Lifeline�� trained personnel identify the nature and extent of the subscriber�� particular need and notify the subscriber�� family members, neighbors and/or emergency personnel, as needed.

The Company�� Medicare-certified hospice operations provide a range of hospice services designed to meet the individual physical, spiritual and psychosocial needs of terminally ill patients and their families. Its hospice services are primaril! y provide! d in a patient�� home but can also be provided in a nursing home, assisted living facility or hospital. Key services provided include pain and symptom management accompanied by palliative medication, emotional and spiritual support, spiritual counseling and family bereavement counseling, inpatient and respite care, homemaker services, dietary counseling and social worker visits for up to 13 months after a patient�� death.

Facility-Based Services

The Company�� LTACHs treat patients with severe medical conditions who require a care and frequent monitoring by physicians and other clinical personnel. Patients who receive its services in an LTACH are too medically unstable to be treated in a non-acute setting. It also treats patients diagnosed with musculoskeletal impairments that restrict their ability to perform normal activities of daily living. As part of its facility-based services, the Company operates an institutional pharmacy, which focuses on providing a full array of services to its long-term acute care hospitals. All coding, medical records, case management, utilization review and medical staff credentialing are provided at the hospital level. Centralized functions that are provided by the home office include payroll, accounting, financial reporting, billing, collections, regulatory and legal compliance, risk management, pharmacy, information technology and general clinical oversight accomplished by periodic on-site surveys.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  What: Shares of home health providers Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED  ) , Gentiva Health Services (NASDAQ: GTIV  ) , and�LHC Group (NASDAQ: LHCG  ) �swooned as much as 28%, 20%, and 15%, respectively, following a public proposal by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, late yesterday that in-home health care reimbursements be cut by 1.5% in 2014.

Hot Low Price Companies To Invest In 2014: Pervasive Software Inc.(PVSW)

Pervasive Software, Inc. provides embeddable software and SaaS services for data management, data integration, B2B exchange, and analytics. Its embeddable Pervasive PSQL database engine provides database reliability in a near-zero database administration environment for packaged business applications. Pervasive Software?s multi-purpose data integration platform, available on-premises and in the cloud, accelerates the sharing of information between multiple data stores, applications, and hosted business systems, and allows customers to re-use the same software for diverse integration scenarios. Pervasive DataRush is an embeddable parallel-processing platform enabling data-intensive applications, such as claims processing, risk analysis, fraud detection, data mining, predictive analytics, sales optimization, and marketing analytics. The company serves customers in approximately 150 countries. Pervasive Software, through Pervasive Innovation Labs, also invests in the explorat ion and creation of solutions for the data analysis and data delivery challenges. Pervasive Software, Inc. has a strategic alliance with A.D.A.M. Inc. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas with additional offices in Greenville, South Carolina; Brussels, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; Paris, France; and London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Pervasive Software(R) Inc. (NASDAQ:PVSW), a global leader in cloud-based and on-premises data innovation, reported that it is in receipt of an unsolicited non-binding letter from Actian Corporation proposing to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Pervasive common stock for $8.50 per share in cash.

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Own In Right Now

Small cap stocks Digital Caddies Inc (OTCMKTS: CADY), MEDL Mobile Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS: MEDL) and Yappn Corp (OTCMKTS: YPPN) offer different ways to potentially profit from Internet or mobile technology. However, all three small cap stocks have also been the subject of paid promotions or investor relations types of activities. So will investors actually profit from the efforts of these small caps to profit from the Internet or mobile technology? Here is a quick reality check:

Digital Caddies Inc (OTCMKTS: CADY) Announces Important New Deals

Small cap Digital Caddies has transitioned to a new business model by providing golf courses a wirelessly connected tablet-based navigation and content platform that is installed on golf carts. With the Digital Caddies platform, course operators have the opportunity to increase revenue by promoting merchandise, food and beverage specials, or whatever they'd like through the system. On Friday, Digital Caddies fell 0.88% to $0.280 for a market cap of $13.93 million plus CADY is up 100% since the start of the year and down 68.9% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Top 5 Quality Stocks To Watch Right Now: Elephant Talk Communications Corp (ETAK)

Elephant Talk Communications Corp., incorporated on September 26, 2011, is a provider of mobile networking software and services. The Company provides operating software, managed services, cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, an integrated transaction and delivery platform to the mobile telecommunications industry globally. The Company�� products include remote health care, credit card fraud prevention, mobile Internet ID security, secure remote file access management, loyalty and transaction management services and a whole range of other emerging mobile services.

The Company empowers Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) by providing a cloud based mobile communications infrastructure, operating software and managed services, based mostly on company developed and owned software. In addition to the mobile based services, the Company also provides landline services like Carrier Select and Carrier Pre-Select Services, Toll Free and Premium Rate Services to the business market through its fixed line telecom infrastructure and its centrally operated and managed ET Boss and Infitel platform.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  If you're reading this, then odds are you already know that small caps WidePoint Corporation (NYSEMKT:WYY), CytRx Corporation (NASDAQ:CYTR), and Elephant Talk Communications Corp. (NYSEMKT:ETAK) are among the recent big winners from the small cap stock realm. ETAK is up 100% since the end of October, largely spurred by encouraging numbers in its third-quarter results. CYTR shares have rallied more than 150% in just the past three days on the heels of an announcement that a cancer drug the biotech company is developing has shown wonderful Phase 2 results. And, WYY has advanced 93% over the past month or so, thanks to Q3's earnings announcement, though the trading public - and then the media - certainly took the ball and ran with it.

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Own In Right Now: Furmanite Corp (FRM)

Furmanite Corporation (Furmanite), incorporated on January 23, 1953, is an on-site industrial plant turnaround maintenance and on-line contractor engineered services. The Company operates in two segments: Technical Services and Engineering & Project Solutions. Technical Services provides specialized technical services, including on-line, off-line and other services. The Engineering & Project Solutions segment includes Furmanite Technical Solutions (FTS), provides project planning, professional engineering, downstream non-destructive testing and inspection, construction management, mechanical integrity, field support, quality assurance and plant asset management services, as well as certain other inspection and project management services. The Company provides on-line repairs of leaks (leak sealing) in valves, pipes and other components of piping systems and related equipment used in flow-process industries.

The Company�� Technical Services segment�� On-line services include leak sealing, hot tapping, line stopping, line isolation, composite repair, valve testing and certain non-destructive testing and inspection services, while off-line services include on-site machining, heat treatment, bolting, valve repair and other non-destructive testing and inspection services. Other services include smart shim services, concrete repair, engineering services, valves and other products and manufacturing. The Engineering & Project Solutions segment�� customers include refining and petrochemical operators, as well as maintenance, and engineering and construction contractors servicing the downstream and midstream oil and gas markets, substantially, all of which are in the Americas.

The Company provides off-line services, including on-site machining, bolting, valve repair, heat treating, ultrasonic, radiography, phased array, tube testing and repair on such systems and equipment. These services tend to complement leak sealing and other on-line services since these off-line services a! re usually performed while a plant or piping system is not operating. In addition, the Company provides concrete repair, engineering services, valve and other products and manufacturing. The Company�� on-line; leak sealing services are performed on a range of flow-process industry machinery, often in difficult situations. The Company�� customer base includes petroleum refineries, chemical plants, mining operations, offshore energy production platforms, subsea piping systems, steel mills, nuclear and conventional power stations, pulp and paper mills, food and beverage processing plants and other flow-process facilities in more than 50 countries.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Roberto Pedone]

   

  Furmanite (FRM), together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized technical services. This stock closed up 2.2% to $7.78 in Tuesday's trading session.

   

  Tuesday's Range: $7.52-$7.83
  
  52-Week Range: $6.90-$12.70
  
  Tuesday's Volume: 639,000
  
  Three-Month Average Volume: 150,022

   

  From a technical perspective, FRM trended higher here right above some near-term support at $7.21 with heavy upside volume flows. This stock has been downtrending badly for the last three months, with shares plunging lower from its high of $12 to its new 52-week low of $6.90. During that downtrend, shares of FRM have been consistently making lower highs and lower lows, which is bearish technical price action. That said, shares of FRM have now started to rebound higher off that $6.90 low and it's quickly moving within range of triggering a near-term breakout trade. That trade will hit if FRM manages to take out Tuesday's intraday high of $7.83 to some more near-term overhead resistance at around $8 with high volume.

   

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in FRM as long as it's trending above some key near-term support at $7.21 or above its 52-week low of $6.90 and then once it sustains a move or close above those breakout levels with volume that hits near or above 150,022 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then FRM will set up to re-test or possibly take out its next major overhead resistance levels at $8.50 to its 50-day moving average of $9.16, or even $9.50.

   

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Own In Right Now: 22nd Century Group Inc (XXII)

22nd Century Group, Inc. (22nd Century Group), incorporated on September 12, 2005, is a holding company. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, 22nd Century Limited, LLC (22nd Century Ltd), which is a plant biotechnology company. The Company�� products include X-22 Smoking Cessation Aid, Modified Risk Cigarettes, BRAND A Cigarettes and BRAND B Cigarettes. On January 25, 2011, 22nd Century Limited, LLC (22nd Century Ltd) completed a reverse merger transaction (the Merger) with 22nd Century Group, and as a result, 22nd Century Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of 22nd Century Group, which continues to operate the business of 22nd Century Ltd. the Company�� drug application for X-22 was cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2011. The Company�� subsidiary, Goodrich Tobacco Company, LLC (Goodrich Tobacco), had introduced two cigarette brands, RED SUN and MAGIC, into the United States marketed during the year ended December 31, 2011. In December 2013, 22nd Century Group Inc acquired an undisclosed manufacturing facility located in Mocksville, North Carolina. Effective December 11, 2013, 22nd Century Group Inc acquired NASCO Specialty Brands LLC.

X-22 is a tobacco-based botanical medical product for use as a smoking cessation therapy. X-22 is a prescription-only kit consists of very low nicotine (VLN) cigarettes made from its tobacco. The therapy protocol allows the patient to smoke its VLN cigarettes without restriction over the six-week treatment period to facilitate the goal of the patient quitting smoking by the end of the treatment period. In 2011, Biotech Crops were planted in 29 countries on 395 million acres (160 million hectares).

The Company competes with Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis International AG, Reynolds American Inc, Philip Morris USA Inc., Reynolds American Inc., Lorillard Inc., Commonwealth Brands, Inc., Liggett Group LLC, Vector Tobacco Inc., Star Scientific Inc, Philip Morris International Inc., British! American Tobacco, JT International SA, Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and China National Tobacco Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Small cap stocks Chromadex Corp (OTCMKTS: CDXC) and 22nd Century Group Inc (OTCBB: XXII) are, one way or the other, focused on natural products and have been getting some extra attention lately. Moreover, one of these stocks have been the subject of a disclosed investor awareness campaign. Keeping that in mind, are these two small cap stocks natural winners for investors? Here is a quick look:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  While it's only been a little over a week since yours truly named 22nd Century Group Inc. (NYSEMKT:XXII) as one of the market's best-looking breakout opportunities, circumstances dictate the message rather than the other way around. That's the indirect way of saying XXII has continued on ahead, behaving as expected, punching through its key ceilings and solidifying the bullishness it was hinting at late last month.

Top 5 Up And Coming Companies To Own In Right Now: Calpine Corp (CPN)

Calpine Corporation (Calpine) is an independent wholesale power producer in the United States. The Company owns and operates primarily natural gas-fired and geothermal power plants in North America and has presence in wholesale power markets in California, Texas and the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The Company has invested in clean power generation. It is developing, constructing, owning and operating an environmentally responsible portfolio of power plants. Its portfolio is primarily consists of two types of power generation technologies: natural gas-fired combustion turbines, which are combined-cycle plants, and renewable geothermal conventional steam turbines. The Company is a owner and operator of industrial gas turbines, as well as cogeneration power plants. The Company sells wholesale power, steam, capacity, renewable energy credits and ancillary services to its customers, including utilities, independent electric system operators, industrial and agricultural companies, retail power providers, municipalities and power marketers. It purchases natural gas and fuel oil as fuel for its power plants and engage in related natural gas transportation and storage transactions. The Company also purchases electric transmission rights to deliver power to its customers. In February 2014, the Company announced that it has completed the acquisition of a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant located in Guadalupe County, 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, Texas.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 93 power plants, including two under construction, with an aggregate generation capacity of approximately 28,155 megawatts and 584 megawatts under construction. Its generation capacity includes 77 natural gas-fired power plants, 15 geothermal plants and one photovoltaic solar plant. The Company is a consumer of natural gas in North America. The Company sells a substantial portion of its power and other products under power purchase agreements (PPAs) with a duration greater than ! one year.. The contracted sale of power, steam and capacity from its cogeneration power plants, combustion turbine power plants and geothermal power plants, as well as the sale of renewable energy credits (RECs), from its geothermal and solar power plants, provide a stable source of revenue. The Company produces power for sale to utilities, municipalities, retail power providers, independent electric system operators, large end-use industrial or agricultural customers or power marketers. Its cogeneration power plants produce steam for sale to customers for use in industrial or heating, ventilation and air conditioning operations. The Company provides capacity for sale to retail power providers. It provides ancillary service products to wholesale power markets. It sells RECs from its Geysers Assets in northern California, as well as from its small solar power plant in New Jersey.

The Company�� natural gas-fired power plants primarily utilize two types of design: 3,515 megawatts of simple-cycle combustion turbines and 23,043 megawatts of combined-cycle combustion turbines and a small portion from natural gas-fired steam turbines. Its Geysers Assets are a 725 megawatts fleet of 15 operating power plants in northern California. It leases the geothermal steam fields from which it extracts steam for its Geysers Assets. The Company has leasehold mineral interests in 110 leases comprising approximately 29,019 acres of federal, state and private geothermal resource lands in The Geysers region of northern California. Its leases cover one contiguous area of property that comprises approximately 45 square miles in the northwest corner of Sonoma County and southeast corner of Lake County. Across the fleet, it also has a variety of technologies, including approximately 868 megawatts of capacity from its power plants acquired in the Conectiv Acquisition which have conventional steam turbine technology. The Company also has approximately four megawatts of capacity from solar power generation technology a! t its Vine! land Solar Energy Center in New Jersey.

The Company has 24 natural gas-fired power plants, including two under construction, with the capacity to generate a total of 6,194 megawatts in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) region, which extends from the Rocky Mountains westward. In addition, it owns and operate 15 geothermal power plants located in northern California capable of producing a total of 725 megawatts. The majority of these power plants are located in California, in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) region; the Company also owns a power plant in Arizona and one in Oregon. The Company has 12 natural gas-fired power plants in the TRE NERC region with the capacity to generate a total of 7,239 megawatts, all of which are physically located in the ERCOT market. It has a total of 31 power plants with 7,914 megawatts of peaking capacity located in the RFC, Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) and Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) NERC regions. The Company has 19 operating power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 4,491 megawatts in Eastern PJM. In addition, it has one operating power plant, with the capacity to generate 503 megawatts, located in Western PJM. The company has a total of eight natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 1,439 megawatts in the NPCC NERC region. Five of these power plants are located in New York.

The Company has 50% ownership interests in two Canadian power plants, with the total capacity to generate 1,088 MW (544 megawatts net attributable to Calpine), located in the NPCC NERC region in Ontario, Canada. The Whitby cogeneration facility is a 50 megawatts facility located in Whitby, Ontario and the Greenfield Energy Centre is a 1,038 megawatts facility located in Courtright, Ontario. The Company has three natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 1,481 megawatts operating within the M! RO NERC r! egion. The Company has one operating natural gas-fired power plant with the capacity to generate 1,134 megawatts located in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) NERC region. SPP is an RTO approved by FERC that provides independent administration of the electric power grid. SPP manages an energy-only location based real-time wholesale energy market. The Company has 10 natural gas-fired power plants with the capacity to generate a total of 4,949 megawatts operating within the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) and the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC) NERC regions.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  Calpine Corp.(CPN) agreed to buy a gas-fired, 1,050-megawatt power plant in Texas for $625 million, as part of the wholesale power company’s effort to increase its presence in the Texas market. Calpine is purchasing the plant from MinnTex Power Holdings LLC, a portfolio company owned by a private investment fund managed by Wayzata Investment Partners LLC.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Tuesday, utilities shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.18 percent. Top decliners in the sector included Calpine (NYSE: CPN), down 1.41 percent, and Exelon (NYSE: EXC), off 2.19 percent.

• [By Sean Williams]

  The first risk NextEra faces is its extraordinarily high levels of debt. It's true that cash flow from electricity generation is steady, but so is the interest it pays on the $28.2 billion in debt the company carries on its balance sheet. Electric utilities don't have much choice when it comes to upgrading or expanding their operations in order to reduce their long-term operating costs other than to take on debt to fund projects. The danger is that sometimes this debt can even put previous darlings out of business. U.S. electric utility Calpine (NYSE: CPN  ) , for example, was forced to declare bankruptcy in 2005, weighed down by $17 billion in debt at the time. Calpine's collapse had a lot to do with the weakness in the energy market generated by Enron's collapse a few years prior, but it has also failed to regain its luster since reemerging from bankruptcy.�

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday, small cap geothermal stock U.S. Geothermal Inc (NYSEMKT: HTM) produced a geyser of a return when it surged 26.79%, meaning its worth taking a closer look at the stock verses the performance of other geothermal stocks like small cap Ormat Technologies, Inc (NYSE: ORA) and mid cap Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN).�First of all, I should mention there are some other geothermal stocks out there like Alterra Power Corp (CVE: AXY) and Ram Power Corp (TSE: RPG) who have their primary listing on Canadian exchanges with secondary ones on the OTC���meaning they may not be a good deal for American investors or easy to invest in. Second, U.S. Geothermal Inc itself is a good geothermal proxy as its�focused on developing, owning, and operating clean, sustainable electric power from geothermal energy resources and its�operating geothermal power projects at Neal Hot Springs, Oregon; San Emidio, Nevada; and Raft River, Idaho plus El Ceibillo, an advanced stage, geothermal prospect located within a 24,710 acre energy rights concession area near Guatemala City, the largest city in Central America.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014

The S&P 500 has been charging higher in 2013, producing an impressive 16% gain in just the first five months of the year. But certain sectors have performed better than others.

At the bottom of the table are basic materials, down 3.4% on the year due to big losses in gold and mining stocks. At the top is health care, up 28% on the year. But a close second is financials, posting an impressive 20% gain. That strong performance has been driven by two key factors.

Housing
Housing is the single most important factor affecting the growth of the economy. And nowhere is its impact bigger than in financial services. Financial services companies carry huge exposure to the housing industry and its wide range of financial products.

10 Best Bank Stocks For 2015: Thoratec Corporation(THOR)

Thoratec Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary medical devices used for circulatory support. The company?s primary product lines include ventricular assist devices, such as HeartMate II, an implantable left ventricular assist device consisting of a rotary blood pump to provide intermediate and long-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS); and HeartMate XVE, an implantable and pulsatile left ventricular assist device for intermediate and longer-term MCS. Its ventricular assist devices also comprise Paracorporeal Ventricular Assist Device, an external pulsatile ventricular assist device, which provides left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for bridge-to-transplantation (BTT), including home discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery; and Implantable Ventricular Assist Device, an implantable and pulsatile ventricular assist device designed to provide left, right, and biventricular MCS approved for BTT comprising hom e discharge, and post-cardiotomy myocardial recovery. The company also provides CentriMag, an extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platform that offers support up to 30 days for cardiac and respiratory failure. In addition, it offers PediMag and PediVAS extracorporeal full-flow acute surgical support platforms designed to provide acute surgical support to pediatric patients. The company sells its products through direct sales force in the United States, as well as through a network of distributors internationally. Thoratec Corporation was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ali Berri]

  In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.62 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR), down 28.4 percent, and PhotoMedex (NASDAQ: PHMD), off 14.6 percent.

• [By Garrett Cook]

  In trading on Thursday, healthcare shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 0.62 percent. Meanwhile, top decliners in the sector included Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR), down 30 percent, and PhotoMedex (NASDAQ: PHMD), off 15.11 percent.

• [By Anna Prior]

  Medical device company Thoratec Corp.(THOR) has purchased Apica Cardiovascular Ltd., in a deal that includes $35 million in cash upfront and potential milestone payments of up to $40 million.

• [By Todd Campbell]

  Competing for heart pump market share
  Abiomed's products provide circulatory support for up to six hours and are designed for use in cardiac cath labs or during heart surgery, but competitors Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR  ) and Heartware (NASDAQ: HTWR  ) target the intermediate- and long-term-use market instead.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Checkpoint Systms Inc.(CKP)

Checkpoint Systems, Inc. manufactures and markets identification, tracking, security, and merchandising solutions for the retail and apparel industry worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Shrink Management Solutions, Apparel Labeling Solutions, and Retail Merchandising Solutions. The Shrink Management Solutions segment provides shrink management and merchandise visibility solutions. It offers electronic article surveillance systems, such as EVOLVE, a suite of RF and RFID-enabled products that act as a deterrent to prevent merchandise theft in retail stores; and electronic article surveillance consumables, including EAS-RF and EAS-EM labels that work in combination with EAS systems to reduce merchandise theft in retail stores. This segment also provides keepers, spider wraps, bottle security, and hard tags, as well as Showsafe, a line alarm system for protecting display merchandise. In addition, it offers physical and electronic store monitoring solutions, incl uding fire alarms, intrusion alarms, and digital video recording systems for retail environments; and RFID tags and labels. The Apparel Labeling Solutions segment provides apparel labeling solutions to apparel retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers. It has Web-enabled apparel labeling solutions platform and network of 28 service bureaus located in 22 countries that supplies customers with customized apparel tags and labels. The Retail Merchandising Solutions segment offers hand-held label applicators and tags, promotional displays, and queuing systems. The company serves retailers in the supermarket, drug store, hypermarket, and mass merchandiser markets through direct distribution and reseller channels. Checkpoint Systems was founded in 1969 and is based in Thorofare, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP) surged 17.73% to $14.21. The volume of Checkpoint Systems shares traded was 525% higher than normal. Checkpoint announced its intent to extend the filing date of its annual report.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: CNO Financial Group Inc. (CNO)

CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the development, marketing, and administration of health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. The company markets and distributes Medicare supplement insurance, interest-sensitive and traditional life insurance, fixed annuities, and long-term care insurance products; Medicare advantage plans through a distribution arrangement with Humana Inc.; and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans through a distribution and reinsurance arrangement with Coventry Health Care. It also markets and distributes supplemental health, including specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance products; and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and the worksite through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies. In addition, the company markets primarily graded benefit and simplified issue life insurance products directly to customers through television advertising, direct mail, Internet, and telemarketing. It sells its products through career agents, independent producers, direct marketing, and sales managers. CNO Financial Group, Inc. has strategic alliances with Coventry and Humana. The company was formerly known as Conseco, Inc. and changed its name to CNO Financial Group, Inc. in May 2010. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Fried, Editor, The Buyback Letter]

  Insurance holding company CNO Financial Group (CNO) and its insurance subsidiaries��rincipally Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Washington National, and Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company��erve pre-retiree and retired Americans.

• [By Vanin Aegea]

  I have heard many people comment about the insurance policies for cars, houses, life, assets, etc. The arguments always revolve around the same issue: Is it really necessary? What are the chances to be hit by a Hurricane, or to meet a sudden death? Well, nobody really knows. Some individuals however, sleep better when they know a policy backs their life investments. Here, I will look into three insurance companies that concentrate on different policies, or geographies. These are: China Life (LFC), and Conseco (CNO).

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  Up first is CNO Financial Group (CNO), a mid-cap financial stock that's rocketed close to 60% higher since the calendar flipped over to January. Yup, it's been a great year for the market, but it's been a far better one for investors who own CNO. But that strong performance isn't showing any signs of slowing yet. In fact, CNO looks primed for even more upside in the fourth quarter.

  That's because CNO is currently forming a bullish pattern called an ascending triangle. The ascending triangle pattern is formed by a horizontal resistance level above shares -- in this case at $14.75 -- and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as CNO bounces in between those two technical price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakout above that $14.75 resistance level. When that breakout happens, it's time to become a buyer.

  ACCO's price action isn't exactly textbook. After all, the pattern is coming in at the bottom of a downtrend, not after an uptrend. But ultimately, that doesn't change the trading implications of a move through that $7.50 level.

  Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Ascending triangles and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable. Instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That $7.50 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant. The move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level.

  Don't be early on this trade.

• [By Dimitra DeFotis]

  Many other insurers are trading lower today, chief among them Aflac (AFL), down 3.65%. CNO Financial (CNO) fell 1%. The best performer: life insurance giant Prudential (PRU), whose shares rose more than 1%.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: MEDIFAST INC(MED)

Medifast, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the production, distribution, and sale of weight management and disease management products, and other consumable health and diet products in the United States. The company?s product lines include weight and disease management, meal replacement, and vitamins. It also operates weight control centers that offer Medifast programs for weight loss and maintenance, customized patient counseling, and inbody composition analysis. The company markets its products under the Medifast and Essential brand names, including shakes, appetite suppression shakes, women?s health shakes, diabetics shakes, joint health shakes, coronary health shakes, calorie burn drinks, calorie burn flavor infusers, antioxidant shakes, antioxidant flavor infusers, bars, crunch bars, soups, chili, oatmeal, pudding, scrambled eggs, hot cocoa, cappuccino, chai latte, iced teas, fruit drinks, pretzels, puffs, brownie, pancakes, soy crisps, crackers, and omega 3 and digestive health products. Medifast Inc. sells its products through various channels of distribution comprising Web, call center, independent health advisors, medical professionals, weight loss clinics, and direct consumer marketing supported via the phone and the Web; Take Shape for Life, a physician led network of independent health coaches; and weight control centers. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Last Friday, small cap dieting stock Weight Watchers International, Inc (NYSE: WTW) lost weight for investors when shares tumbled�27.73% to $22.10, meaning its probabaly a good idea to take a closer look�at the stock along with�other small cap weight loss or dieting stocks like NutriSystem Inc (NASDAQ: NTRI), Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED) and Reliv International, Inc (NASDAQ: RELV). Why did Weight Watchers International loose weight last Friday? The company reported its fourth straight quarterly sales decline as fewer people attended meetings and bought its products and also projected earnings that trailed analysts' estimates with the blame being placed on new mobile applications and bracelets that track calories���thus�hurting traditional diet companies.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Nordstrom Inc.(JWN)

Nordstrom, Inc., a fashion specialty retailer, offers apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories for women, men, and children in the United States. It offers a selection of brand name and private label merchandise. The company sells its products through various channels, including Nordstrom full-line stores, off-price Nordstrom Rack stores, Jeffrey? boutiques, treasure & bond, and Last Chance clearance stores; and its online store, nordstrom.com, as well as through catalog. Nordstrom also provides a private label card, two Nordstrom VISA credit cards, and a debit card for Nordstrom purchases. The company?s credit and debit cards feature a shopping-based loyalty program. As of September 30, 2011, it operated 222 stores, including 117 full-line stores, 101 Nordstrom Racks, 2 Jeffrey boutiques, 1 treasure & bond store, and 1 clearance store in 30 states. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Seattle, Washington.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  The day’s winners include Nordstrom (JWN), which gained 3.4% to $60.79 and is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday, and Mosaic (MOS), which jumped 3.2% to $43.85 and continued its strong showing following a Friday upgrade.

• [By Sue Chang and Saumya Vaishampayan]

  Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) �shares rose 3.2%. The retailer on Wednesday announced plans to close underperforming stores in Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, Wash. The closures will affect about 280 employees.

• [By Will Ashworth]

  In the same period, Nordstrom (JWN) has seen net income increase by 83% on a 46% jump in revenue. True, Nordstrom is luxury while Kohl’s isn’t, but Mansell has a lot of work regardless to do if he wants Kohl�� to even be in the same league as Nordstrom from an operational standpoint.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI)

Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides workers compensation insurance and reinsurance products in the United States. The company?s Workers Compensation Insurance segment provides traditional workers compensation insurance coverage products, including guaranteed cost policies, policyholder dividend policies, retrospectively-rated policies, deductible policies, and alternative market products to employers. This segment distributes its workers? compensation products and services through its independent insurance agents primarily in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, Maryland, Indiana, and Virginia. Its Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance segment offers alternative market workers compensation solutions comprising program design, fronting, claims administration, risk management, segregated portfolio cell rental, asset management, and segregated portfolio management services to individual companies, groups, and associations. Eastern Insurance Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lauren Pollock]

  ProAssurance Corp.(PRA) agreed to acquire Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc.(EIHI) for about $205 million, expanding the insurance company’s casualty insurance offerings. Eastern Insurance is a domestic casualty insurance group specializing in workers’ compensation products and services, among other things. ProAssurance plans to pay $24.50 in cash for each outstanding Eastern share, a 16% premium over Monday’s closing price.

Top Growth Companies To Invest In 2014: Buffalo Wild Wings Inc.(BWLD)

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. engages in the ownership, operation, and franchise of restaurants in the United States. The company provides quick casual and casual dining services, as well as serves bottled beers, wines, and liquor. As of July 26, 2011, it had 773 Buffalo Wild Wings locations in 45 states in the United States, as well as in Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Leo Fasciocco]

  Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) has annual revenues of $1.3 billion. Its owned and franchised restaurants feature a variety of boldly flavored, made-to-order menu items, including Buffalo, New York-style chicken wings spun in one of their signature sauces.

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014

Hot on the heels of a $15 million Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with mortgage insurers Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW  ) , MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG  ) , Radian Group (NYSE: RDN  ) , and United Guaranty, a subsidiary of AIG (NYSE: AIG  ) , over kickbacks�paid to banks for mortgage insurance, comes some bad news in the same vein -- this time, for Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) .

Insurance and reinsurance
Even as the above insurers are forking over settlement checks to the CFPB, the bureau is investigating further the whole sordid mess that prompted the settlement in the first place. Now, it is turning its gaze to the recipients of those bribes: mortgage lenders like B of A.

But, that is a future concern. Right now, Bank of America will be forced to deal with homeowners who filed suit against the bank last year, claiming just the type of kickback scheme for which the insurers ponied up. B of A tried to get the claims dismissed, but a judge decided a little over a week ago that the bank will have to face those charges.�

Best Communications Equipment Companies To Invest In Right Now: Universal American Corp (UAM)

Universal American Corp., incorporated on December 22, 2010, through its health insurance and managed care subsidiaries, primarily serves the growing Medicare population by providing Medicare Advantage products. It provides a variety of healthcare services, including case management and care coordination, clinical quality and utilization review and behavioral health services to Medicaid agencies and other third parties. The Company�� business segments include Senior Managed Care, which provides Medicare Advantage segment reflects its Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO and PFFS businesses, and Traditional Insurance segment reflects its insurance products not offered through government programs, which includes Medicare supplement, other senior health insurance, specialty health insurance and life insurance. The Company provides medical management services, information and analysis, and other support services to enable its health care partners to serve their patients better.

In addition , it seeks an opportunity to address the high cost of health care for the remaining 75% of the Medicare population enrolled in traditional fee-for-service Medicare and have joined primarily with primary-care and multi-specialty provider groups to form thirty-one Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, pursuant to the Medicare Shared Saving Program, or Shared Savings Program.

On March 2, 2012, the Company acquired APS Healthcare, Inc., known as APS Healthcare. APS Healthcare provides specialty healthcare solutions primarily to Medicaid agencies. APS Healthcare offers a broad range of healthcare solutions, including case management and care coordination, clinical quality and utilization review, and behavioral health services that enable its customers to improve the quality of care and reduce healthcare costs.

Senior Managed Care - Medicare Advantage

The Company�� Senior Managed CareMedicare Advantage segment reflects its Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO and PFFS bu! sinesses.. During the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company operated Medicare coordinated care plans including PPOs and HMOs as well as its network-based private fee-for-service (PFFS) and rural PFFS business, which provides coverage to Medicare beneficiaries in 36 states. These businesses provide managed care for persons with Medicare under contracts with CMS. Its HMO plans are offered under contracts with CMS and provide all basic Medicare covered benefits with reduced member cost-sharing as well as additional supplemental benefits, including a defined prescription drug benefit. It operates HMO plans are offered under contracts with CMS and provide all basic Medicare covered benefits with reduced member cost-sharing as well as additional supplemental benefits, including a defined prescription drug benefit. It also has Medicare Advantage HMO operations in locations outside of Southeastern Texas including four counties in North Texas offering TexasFirst Health Plans through SelectCare Health Plans; nine counties in Oklahoma City offering Generations Healthcare through Today's Options of Oklahoma, Inc; and three counties in Indianapolis, Indiana offering Today's Options HMO through SelectCare Health Plans.

The Company�� PPO plans are provided under the name Today's Options PPO, which offered under contracts with CMS and provide all basic Medicare covered benefits with reduced member cost-sharing as well as additional supplemental benefits, including a defined prescription drug benefit. This coordinated care product is built around contracted networks of providers who, in cooperation with the health plan, coordinate an active medical management program. In 2012, the Company offered PPO plans to 41 markets in 120 counties in 17 states.

The Company�� PFFS plans are provided under the name Today's Options, which offered under contracts with CMS and provide enhanced health care benefits compared to traditional Medicare, subject to cost sharing and other limitations. These pl! ans have l! imited provider network restrictions, which allow the members to have more flexibility in the delivery of their health care services than other Medicare Advantage plans with limited provider network restrictions. Some of these products include a defined prescription drug benefit. In addition to a fixed monthly payment per member from CMS, individuals in these plans may be required to pay a monthly premium in selected counties or for selected enhanced products. In 2012, it offered PFFS products in a total of 36 states, which included PFFS products with network restrictions to 51 markets in 280 counties in 18 states and PFFS products without network restrictions to 1,052 counties in 32 states.

Traditional Insurance

The Company�� traditional insurance segment reflects the results of its Medicare supplement, other senior health insurance, specialty health insurance, and life insurance. It designed the products in this segment primarily for the senior market and market them through its career agency force and its network of independent general agencies. The Company discontinued marketing and selling traditional insurance products after June 1, 2012. This segment also includes other products that it stopped selling several years ago, such as long-term care, medical insurance and disability insurance, as well as previously produced or acquired term, universal life, and whole life insurance products and single and flexible premium fixed annuities.

The Company competes with United Healthcare, Humana, Wellpoint, Aetna and Cigna

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Brian Orelli]

  Health insurers such as Universal American (NYSE: UAM  ) and Humana (NYSE: HUM  ) that offer supplementary Medicare insurance could be hurt if seniors decided to drop the added coverage, but I doubt the increased premiums will put a major dent in seniors' budgets. Retirees making more than $85,000 per year will have to pay about $250 more per year than they do right now. Any losses will be more than be made up for by the�Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' decision this month to reverse its �previously announced cuts to reimbursement rates.

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: First American Financial Corp (FAF)

First American Financial Corporation, incorporated on January 14, 2008, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the business of providing financial services through its title insurance and services segment and its specialty insurance segment. The Company operates in two segments: title insurance and services and specialty insurance.

The title insurance and services segment provides title insurance, closing and/or escrow services and similar or related services domestically and internationally in connection with residential and commercial real estate transactions. It also maintains, manages and provides access to title plant records and images and provides banking, trust and investment advisory services. The specialty insurance segment issues property and casualty insurance policies and sells home warranty products. In addition, its corporate function consists of certain financing facilities as well as the corporate services that support its business operations.

Title Insurance and Services Segment

The Company�� title insurance and services segment issues title insurance policies on residential and commercial property in the United States and offers similar or related products and services internationally. This segment also provides closing and/or escrow services; accommodates tax-deferred exchanges of real estate; maintains, manages and provides access to title plant records and images, and provides banking, trust and investment advisory services. The Company conducts its title insurance and closing business through a network of direct operations and agents. Through this network, it issues policies in the 49 states that permit the issuance of title insurance policies and the District of Columbia. The Company also offers title insurance, closing services and similar or related products and services, either directly or through third parties in foreign countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and various other markets.

The Company! distributes its title insurance policies and related products and services directly as well as through its agents through various channels. Its federal savings bank subsidiary offers trust and investment advisory services, deposit services and asset management services. As of December 31, 2012, the Company provides products and services in numerous countries outside of the United States, and its international operations accounted for approximately 7.9% of its title insurance and services segment revenues.

Specialty Insurance Segment

The Company�� property and casualty insurance business provides insurance coverage to residential homeowners and renters for liability losses and typical hazards, such as fire, theft, vandalism and other types of property damage. The Company is licensed to issue policies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and actively issue policies in 43 states. In its market, California, it also offers preferred risk auto insurance to better compete with other carriers offering bundled home and auto insurance. Reinsurance is used to limit risk associated with natural disasters, such as windstorms, winter storms, wildfires and earthquakes.

The Company�� home warranty business provides residential service contracts that cover residential systems, such as heating and air conditioning systems, and certain appliances against failures that occur as the result of normal usage during the coverage period. Most of these policies are issued on resale residences, although policies are also available in some instances for new homes. Coverage is typically for one year and is renewable annually at the option of the contract holder and upon its approval. It sells renewals directly to consumers. As of December 31, 2012, home warranty business operates in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

The Company competes with Fidelity National Financial, Inc., Stewart Title Guaranty Company, Old Republic International Corporation and Lender Proc! essing Se! rvices, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  The biggest increase among our dividend stocks this week came from title and specialty insurance management company First American Financial (FAF), which raised its quarterly dividend 100% to 24 cents per share, payable June 16 to shareholders of record as of June 9.
  FAF Dividend Yield: 3.47%

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  First American Financial Corp. (NYSE: FAF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

  Fidelity National Financial Inc. (NYSE: FNF) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

• [By Canadian Value]

  Position % of Fund Assets 1) First American Financial Corp. (FAF) 7.0% 2) Apple, Inc. (AAPL) 6.5% 3) Coinstar, Inc. (CSTR) 4.8% 4) EMC Corp. (EMC) 4.4% 5) Coach, Inc. (COH) 4.4% 6) Kohl's Corp. (KSS) 4.1% 7) Blucora, Inc. (BCOR) 4.0% 8) Tetra Tech, Inc. (TTEK) 3.1% 9) OM Group, Inc. (OMG) 3.0% 10) American International Group, Inc. (AIG) 2.8% TOTAL 44.1% One area that we believe still offers some value in the market is in high quality, large��ap technology stocks that may be momentarily out��f��avor as they transition from rapid growth to slower growth. In particular, we become interested when that transition is also accompanied by a change in capital allocation policies designed to return more cash to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. We believe that Apple and EMC are two of the absolute highest quality technology businesses in the world and both have recently announced very material, shareholder��friendly changes to how they will allocate capital.

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: Genworth Financial Inc (GNW)

Genworth Financial, Inc., a financial security company, provides insurance, wealth management, investment, and financial solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers various insurance and fixed annuity products, including life and long-term care insurance products; payment protection insurance products for consumers primarily to meet specified payment obligations; and wealth management products, such as managed account programs with advisor support and financial planning services. It also provides mortgage insurance products and related services to insure prime-based, individually underwritten residential mortgage loans or flow mortgage insurance; and mortgage insurance on a structured or bulk basis, as well as offers services, analytical tools, and technology that enable lenders to operate and manage risk. In addition, the company provides institutional products consisting of funding agreements, funding agreements backing notes, and guaranteed in vestment contracts. Genworth Financial, Inc. distributes its products and services through financial intermediaries, advisors, independent distributors, affinity groups, and sales specialists. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Its big day has also boosted other insurers. Radian Group (RDN) has risen 7.2% to $14.39, while Old Republic International (ORI) has advanced 2.1% to $15.24, Genworth Financial (GNW) is up 3.6% at $13.41 and MBIA Inc. (MBI) has jumped 4.3% to $10.76.

• [By David Sterman]

  Lastly, you'll note that both Reinsurance Group of America and Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) appear on two separate tables here, as they both sport high free cash flow yields and trade below tangible book value. Those deep value metrics have surely caught the eye of Buffett and his research team. 

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy For 2014: HCI Group Inc (HCI)

HCI Group Inc, formerly Homeowners Choice, Inc., incorporated in 2006, is a holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is primarily engaged in the property and casualty insurance business. The Company is authorized to underwrite homeowners' property and casualty insurance in the state of Florida through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Inc. (HCPC). Through HCPC and subsidiaries, primarily Homeowners Choice Managers, Inc. (HCM), Southern Administration, Inc., Claddaugh Casualty Insurance Company, Ltd., and its subsidiary, HCPCI Holdings LLC, the Company provides property and casualty homeowners' insurance, condominium-owners' insurance, and tenants' insurance to individuals owning property in Florida. The Company�� subsidiaries also include TV Investment Holdings LLC, which owns and operates a marina facility located in Florida; Unthink Technologies Private Limited, which is a software development firm. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company organized TV Investment Holdings LLC, HCI Holdings LLC and HCI Technical Resources, Inc. In November 18, 2011, the Company acquired Unthink Technologies Private Ltd. In November 2011, it acquired the Florida policies of HomeWise Insurance Company.

The Company�� subsidiary, HCM provides underwriting policy administration, marketing, accounting and financial services to HCPC, and participates in the negotiation of reinsurance contracts. Southern Administration, Inc. provides policy administration services. Claddaugh Casualty Insurance Company Ltd. provides reinsurance coverage to HCPC. Asof December 31, 2011, the Company has approximately 119,000 policies in force. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation requires the Company to offer renewals on the policies the Company acquires for a period of three years subsequent to the initial expiration of the assumed policies. The policyholders have the option to renew with the Company or they may ask their agent to place their co! verage with another insurance company.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Property and casualty insurance holding company HCI Group (HCI) raised its quarterly dividend 22.2% to 27.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 20 to shareholders of record Nov. 15.
  HCI Dividend Yield:�2.48%

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tower Group has dropped 12% to $3.88 today at 11:39 a.m., while Stewart Information Services (STC) has dipped 0.1% to $31.16, the�Navigators Group�(NAVG) has fallen 1.4% to $54.78 and HCI Group�(HCI) has gained 1% to $38.16.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Tower Group has dropped 40% to $4.43 today, and some other small insurers are also getting dinged this morning. HCI Group (HCI) has fallen 1.8% to $39.36, Stewart Information Services (STC) has declined 0.7% to $31.36 and the Navigators Group (NAVG) has ticked down 0.4% to $56.10.

10 Best Safest Stocks To Invest In 2015

10 Best Safest Stocks To Invest In 2015: ServiceNow Inc (NOW)

ServiceNow, Inc., incorporated in June 2004, is a provider of cloud-based services to automate enterprise information technology (IT) operations. The Company's service includes a suite of applications built on its platform that automates workflow and integrates related business processes. It focuses on transforming enterprise IT by automating and standardizing business processes and consolidating IT across the global enterprise. Organizations deploy its service to create a single system of record for enterprise IT. It helps transform IT organizations from reactive, manual and task-oriented, to pro-active, automated and service-oriented organizations. Its on-demand service enables organizations to define their IT strategy, design the systems and infrastructure. It provides a set of integrated applications that are configurable and can be implemented and upgraded. In July 2013, ServiceNow Inc announced that it has acquired Mirror42.

The Company offers its serv ice under a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), business model. Its suite of applications was developed to address core ITIL processes, as well as additional business processes, and runs on a single extensible platform. Its platform includes workflow automation, notification, assignment and escalation, third-party integration capabilities, reporting and administration capabilities. Its cloud-based service is designed to be deployed in a modular fashion, allowing customers to solve immediate business needs and access new application functionality as needs evolve. Its service automates the documentation, categorization, prioritization, assignment, notification and escalation of IT and other business processes. Additionally, its service automates routine and repeatable data center operations, such as rebooting a server, cloning a database or deploying a virtualized environment.

The Company's services include core ITIL applications and extended IT applications. Its inci dent management manages the process of restoring a failed se! rvice to an operational state; problem management manages the process of resolving the root cause of recurring service outages or issues affecting multiple users; change management manages the proposal and approval process for changes to be made to the IT infrastructure; release management assigns, manages and monitors the various tasks comprising the actual implementation or execution of a proposed change; configuration management database (CMDB), serves as the inventory repository of all hardware, software and network equipment comprising the IT infrastructure; service catalog displays the various goods and services an IT department makes available to the rest of the organization; knowledge management stores and displays knowledge articles or documents for use by the IT staff or broader supported employee base; service portfolio management presents business services offered to the enterprise by the IT organization in consumer-oriented fashion, and service level agreement m anagement monitors and manages progress being made by IT staff on the completion of assigned tasks which have specific due dates.

The Company's project and portfolio Management tracks and manages projects planned or being worked on by the IT staff. IT Cost Management tracks and monitors staff work time, project-related expenses and labor costs. IT Asset and Contract Management tracks the financial elements of IT infrastructure. Software development lifecycle Management tracks and manages new features and functions to be developed in upgrades or new software applications. Field Service Management manages the process of dispatching field based technicians and routing of field-based spare parts to a customer location. Social IT provides users with a collaboration capability to interact with a set of users to enable IT self-service, as well as a chat functi! onality f! or one-to-one online communication with IT staff. Discovery discovers the various hardware and softw are assets comprising the IT infrastructure, as well as mapp! ing the o! perational dependencies between those assets, and then populates and maintains that inventory in the CMDB application. Runbook Automation is designed to execute routine and repeatable projects in the datacenter.

The Company provides technical training and implementation services to customers through its professional services and through a network of certified partners. Its professional services include customer guidance on implementation, as well as integration and implementation projects, and can include the development of custom applications.

The Company competes with BMC Software, Inc., CA, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company and International Business Machines Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tom Taulli]

  Workday stock suffered from a big selloff over the past few months, as have most other cloud companies like ServiceNow (NOW), Veeva Systems (VEEV) and Cornerstone OnDemand (CSOD). After reaching an all-time high of $115 in late February, WDAY quickly tumbled to a low of $59.

• [By Tom Taulli]

  And the valuation of N stock is reasonable right now. NetSuite is currently trading at 12 times sales while WDAY's multiple is still at a nose-bleed 26.

  Cloud Companies to Buy: ServiceNow (NOW)

  ServiceNow (NOW) operates a platform that automates and manages information technology processes, such as the help desk. By being cloud-based, the technology allows customers to build innovative apps, which has resulted in strong customer loyalty.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/10-best-safest-stocks-to-invest-in-2015.html

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY  ) had a busy Tuesday, as it made a plethora of major announcements at its BlackBerry Live conference. Perhaps most interestingly, the company announced that it's bringing two of its signature features -- BlackBerry Messenger and secure device management -- to devices running Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) iOS and Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android.

From one perspective, these announcements seem like an admission of defeat from BlackBerry. By offering BBM and secure device management services on iOS and Android devices, BlackBerry is giving up some of its key differentiating factors vis-a-vis those platforms. However, it's also possible to see these announcements in a more positive light. By expanding its services beyond the BlackBerry platform, BlackBerry can engage new potential customers and better monetize the value of its intellectual property.

Hot Supermarket Stocks To Own For 2015: Willbros Group Inc (WG)

Willbros Group, Inc. (Willbros) is a full service engineering and construction company specializing in energy infrastructure serving the oil and gas and power industries. The Company's services include engineering, procurement and construction (individually or as an integrated engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) offering), project management, maintenance and lifecycle extension services. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated through three business segments: Upstream Oil & Gas, Downstream Oil & Gas and Utility Transmission and Distribution (Utility T&D), primarily in the United States, Canada and Oman. In January 2012, the Company changed its organization and includes three segments: Oil & Gas, Utility T&D and Canada. During 2011, the Company opened an office in the Houston Ship Channel. On October 11, 2011, the Company completed the sale of all assets and operations of InterCon Construction Inc., a non-strategic subsidiary within the Utility T&D segment.

Upstream Oil & Gas

The Company's core services include the design, construction, and maintenance of hydrocarbon transportation systems. The Company provides a full range of services for the engineering, design, procurement and construction of processing, pumping, compression and metering facilities. It focuses on building these facilities in the North American oil and gas market.

The Company's core services include the design, construction, and maintenance of hydrocarbon transportation systems. The Company provides a full range of services for the engineering, design, procurement and construction of processing, pumping, compression and metering facilities. It focuses on building these facilities in the North American oil and gas market.

The Company�� engineering services include project development, conceptual design, front-end engineering and feasibility studies; project engineering services; definitive design and drafting services; project management, estimating, scheduling! and controls; turnkey EPC arrangements; field engineering and construction liaison services; material and services procurement; planning and management of integrity and maintenance programs, and topographic, hydrographic and engineering as-built surveying, including the establishment of rights-of-way for public utilities and industrial uses. These services are furnished to a number of oil, gas, and pipeline transportation clients on a stand-alone basis, as well as part of EPC contracts undertaken by the Company.

In addition to capital projects, the Company offers its upstream infrastructure construction facilities to its clients through its management and maintenance offerings. The Company operates its fabrication services in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Alberta, Canada.

Downstream Oil & Gas

The Company provides integrated, full-service specialty construction, turnaround, repair and maintenance services, including EPC services, to the downstream energy infrastructure markets, which consists primarily of integrated oil companies, independent refineries, product terminals and petrochemical companies. The Company provides these services primarily in the United States. The Company's principal services include construction, maintenance and turnaround services for downstream facilities, including revamp/reconditioning of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units; tank services for construction, maintenance or repair of petroleum storage tanks, typically located at pipeline terminals and refineries; multi-disciplinary engineering services to clients in the petroleum refining, chemicals and petrochemicals and oil and gas industries, and EPC services through program management and EPC project services. The Company�� construction, maintenance and turnaround services include refractory services, furnace re-tube and revamp projects, stainless and alloy welding services and heavy rigging and equipment setting.

The Company provides services to the above-ground storage tank i! ndustry. ! The Company's capabilities include American Petroleum Institute (API) compliant tank maintenance and repair; floating roof seals; floating roof installations and repairs; secondary containment bottoms, cone roof and structure replacements, and new API compliant aboveground storage tanks. The Company provides these services as stand-alone or in combination, including EPC solutions.

The Company provides project management, engineering and material procurement services to the refining industries and government agencies, including chemical/process, mechanical, civil, structural, electrical, instrumentation/controls and environmental through its subsidiary, Wink Companies, LLC (Wink). The Company provides its engineering services through resources located at the project site or at its offices in Louisiana.

Utility T&D

The Company provides a range of services in electric and natural gases transmission and distribution, including comprehensive maintenance and construction, repair and restoration of utility infrastructure. It maintains and constructs overhead and underground transmission lines. Overhead transmission services include the installation, maintenance and repair of transmission structures involving wood, concrete, steel pole and steel lattice tower configurations. Underground transmission services include the installation and maintenance of underground transmission cable and its associated duct, conduit and manhole systems. Electric power transmission also includes substation services, which includes the maintenance, construction, expansion, calibration and testing of electric power substations and components.

The Company maintains, construct and upgrade underground and overhead electric power distribution lines to household voltage levels. The Company's services consists of electric power distribution systems, including primary and secondary voltage cables, wood and steel poles, transformers, switchgear, capacitors, underground duct, manhole syst! ems, resi! dential and commercial and electric meter installation.

The Company offers two complementary services to utilities and industrial companies for the restoration of electrical power cables and the condition assessment of electrical cable systems. It includes CableCURE and CableWISE. CableCURE is a process for the restoration of aged electric power cables. CableWISE is an online electrical system-condition assessment process that enables electric power utilities and a range of commercial and industrial facilities to evaluate the condition of cable systems, transformers and switchgear. The Company provides a spectrum of natural gas T and D services, from the maintenance and construction of large diameter transmission pipelines through the installation of residential natural gases service. The Company constructs, maintain and upgrade natural gases distribution pipelines. The Company's services include trenching, transporting, welding or fusing and laying pipe, post-construction integrity testing, site restoration and meter setting.

The Company provides other specialty services to customers nationwide. These services include utility-line locating, stray voltage and gas leak detection and telecommunications.

The Company competes with Quanta Services, MasTec, Primoris, Associated Pipeline Contractors, Sheehan Pipeline Construction, U.S. Pipeline, Welded Construction, Henkels & McCoy, Michels Corporation, North American Energy Services, Flint Energy Services, Ledcor, Sunland, Dyess, Jomax, CH2M Hill, Gulf Interstate, Universal Pegasus, Trigon, Mustang Engineering, ENGlobal, AltairStrickland, JV Industrial Companies, Plant Performance Services, KBR, Chicago Bridge & Iron, Matrix Services, MYR Group, Pike Electric and Miller Pipeline.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Willbros Group (NYSE: WG  ) were shining today, gaining as much as 16% after the energy services firm boosted its profit estimate for the current quarter.

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014: athenahealth Inc.(ATHN)

athenahealth, Inc., a business services company, provides ongoing billing, clinical-related, and other related services to medical group practices primarily in the United States. It provides services through the athenaNet, a proprietary Internet-based practice management application. The company primarily offers athenaCollector, a revenue cycle management service that automates and manages billing-related functions for physician practices, and includes a practice management platform. The athenaCollector assists its physician clients with the handling of claims and billing processes to help manage reimbursement. The company also provides Anodyne Analytics, a business intelligence application, which provides physicians and practice managers with insight into practice performance. In addition, it offers athenaClinicals, an electronic health record service that automates and manages medical-record-management-related functions for physician practices, as well as assists medical groups with the handling of physician documentation, orders, and related inbound and outbound communications. Further, the company provides athenaCommunicator that allows practices to manage patient communication tasks electronically, including the use of automated reminder calls; the creation of a self-service patient portal for registration, appointment requests, bill payments, and general communication; automatic generation of emails to patients; and patient education tools. It sells its products through a direct sales force, as well as through channel partners. The company was formerly known as athenahealth.com, Inc. and changed its name to athenahealth, Inc. in November 2000. athenahealth, Inc. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  One company working to help make physicians more efficient is athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN  ) . In June, health-care research firm KLAS named the company's electronic medical record system as the top-ranked system for physicians in terms of usability, efficiency, and effectiveness. The stock is up 44% year-to-date.

• [By Brian Stoffel]

  For a more recent example, look at Athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN  ) . Every year, almost $800 billion is lost due to medical billing errors. Enter the company's AthenaCollector system for smaller medical practices. The company helps keep health-care costs in check by keeping doctor's bills paid.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Yesterday, David Einhorn offered up a bearish take on Athenahealth (ATHN)–even calling it a “bubble stock”–at the Sohn Conference. Today its shares are paying the price, even as analysts try to support the stock.

  REUTERS

  The defense calls Leerink’s David Larsen and Chris Abbott:

  We continue to be positive on shares of [Athenahealth], as (1) we believe�[Athenahealth],� is a true cloud-based HCIT company with deep functionality, (2) while�[Athenahealth], also provides a service, this is a very unusual and complicated service that is performed in conjunction with a very sophisticated EMR and billing and AR solution, (3) Epic clearly dominates upstream but we believe there is plenty of room in the community hospital space for�[Athenahealth], to win share, (4) [Athenahealth], clearly chooses to reinvest revenue growth back into the business, in order to be able to maintain ~25% y/y top-line growth. We remain positive on [Athenahealth], and our checks indicate that although we’re moving through the stimulus program, there is still a significant professional EMR replacement market opportunity. The HITECH Act may have been signed into law in early 2009, but healthcare reform – in our view – will last for decades.

  Citigroup’s Garen Sarafian thinks Einhorn is wrong about Athenahealth’s margins:

  Einhorn mentioned operating margin estimates are too high and that similar companies to Athenahealth have margins around 10%. Our expectations aren�� that much higher, as we estimate Athenahealth will finish 2014 with adjusted operating margins of 10.3%, increasing to 11.4% and 12.0% in 2015 and 2016, respectively. While we expect some margin expansion, our absolute margin levels are in-line with other [software-as-a-service] peers 2014E operating margins including: Medidata (MDSO) at 8.9%, Salesforce.com (CRM) at 10.3%, and LinkedIn (LNKD) at 13.8%. While not expecting significant mar

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014: Move Inc.(MOVE)

Move, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates an online network of Websites for real estate search, finance, and moving and home enthusiasts in North America. The company operates REALTOR.com, a Web site that offers property listings and neighborhood profiles; and consumers information and tools designed to assist the customers in understanding the value of their home, preparing the home for sale, listing and advertising the home, home affordability, the offer process, applying for a loan, understand the mortgage options available, closing the purchase, and planning the move. REALTOR.com provides showcase listing enhancements; display ad products; and a series of template Websites primarily for agents and brokers. The company also offers 8i solution, a Web-based customer relationship management software application for real estate agents. In addition, it provides Market Snapshot and Market Builder products that allow real estate professionals to offer real-time mult iple listing services market updates and trend analysis to their online prospects and clients; and Move Rentals that displays rental listings. Further, the company provides graphical display advertisements, text links, sponsorships, and directories for advertisers for mortgage companies, home improvement retailers, moving service providers, and other consumer product and service companies. Additionally, it offers quotes from moving companies, truck rental companies, and self-storage facilities, as well as other move-related information on Moving.com Website. Move, Inc. also operates as an online real estate listing syndicator and provider of performance reporting solutions for the purpose of helping to drive an online advertising program for brokers, real estate franchises, and individual agents. The company was formerly known as Homestore, Inc. and changed its name to Move, Inc. in June 2006. Move, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Renu Singh]

  Aruba Networks (ARUN) is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for mobile enterprise. The company's Mobile Virtual Enterprise (MOVE) architecture unifies wired and wireless network infrastructures into one seamless access solution for corporate headquarters, mobile business professionals, remote workers and guests. This unified approach to access networks enables IT organizations and users to securely address the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon, dramatically improving productivity and lowering capital and operational costs.

• [By James E. Brumley]

  No, it's not a Trulia Inc. (NYSE:TRLA) or a Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ:Z). In fact, it's not even close to being a Zillow or a Trulia. Yet, for the time being anyway, Move Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) may be the best trade within the online real estate group right now.

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014: Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (Enterprise), incorporated on April 9, 1998, owns and operates natural gas liquids (NGLs) related businesses of Enterprise Products Company (EPCO). The Company is a North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil, refined products and certain petrochemicals. Its midstream energy asset network links producers of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil from supply basins in the United States, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with domestic consumers and international markets. Its midstream energy operations include natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and storage; NGL transportation, fractionation, storage, and import and export terminals; crude oil gathering and transportation, storage and terminals; offshore production platforms; petrochemical and refined products transportation and services; and a marine transportation business that operates on the United States inland and Intracoastal Waterway systems and in the Gulf of Mexico. Its assets include approximately 50,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines; 200 million barrels of storage capacity for NGLs, petrochemicals, refined products and crude oil; and 14 billion cubic feet of natural gas storage capacity. In addition, its asset portfolio includes 24 natural gas processing plants, 21 NGL and propylene fractionators, six offshore hub platforms located in the Gulf of Mexico, a butane isomerization complex, NGL import and export terminals, and octane isobutylene production facilities. The Company operates in five business segments: NGL Pipelines & Services; Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services; Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services; Offshore Pipelines & Services, and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services.

NGL Pipelines & Services

The Company�� NGL Pipelines & Services business segment includes its natural gas processing plants and related NGL marketing activities; approximately 16,700 miles of NGL pipel! ines; NGL and related product storage facilities; and 14 NGL fractionators. This segment also includes its import and export terminal operations. At the core of its natural gas processing business are 24 processing plants located across Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. Natural gas produced at the wellhead (especially in association with crude oil) contains varying amounts of NGLs. Once the mixed component NGLs are extracted by a natural gas processing plant, they are transported to a centralized fractionation facility for separation into purity NGL products. Once processed, this natural gas is available for sale through its natural gas marketing activities. Its NGL marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of NGLs it takes title to through its natural gas processing activities and open market and contract purchases from third parties. Its NGL marketing activities utilize a fleet of approximately 670 railcars, the majority of which are leased from third parties.

The Company�� NGL pipelines transport mixed NGLs and other hydrocarbons from natural gas processing facilities, refineries and import terminals to fractionation plants and storage facilities; distribute and collect NGL products to and from fractionation plants, storage and terminal facilities, petrochemical plants, export facilities and refineries, and deliver propane to customers along the Dixie Pipeline and certain sections of the Mid-America Pipeline System. Revenues from its NGL pipeline transportation agreements are based upon a fixed fee per gallon of liquids transported multiplied by the volume delivered. Certain of its NGL pipelines offer firm capacity reservation services. It collects storage revenues under its NGL and related product storage contracts based on the number of days a customer has volumes in storage multiplied by a storage fee. In addition, it charges customers throughput fees based on volumes delivered into and subsequently withdrawn from storage. Its ! principal! NGL pipelines include Mid-America Pipeline System, South Texas NGL Pipeline System, Seminole Pipeline, Dixie Pipeline, Chaparral NGL System, Louisiana Pipeline System, Skelly-Belvieu Pipeline, Promix NGL Gathering System, Houston Ship Channel pipeline, Rio Grande Pipeline, Panola Pipeline and Lou-Tex NGL Pipeline. It operates its NGL pipelines with the exception of the Tri-States pipeline.

The Company�� NGL operations include import and export facilities located on the Houston Ship Channel in southeast Texas. It owns an import and export facility located on land it leases from Oiltanking Houston LP. Its import facility can offload NGLs from tanker vessels at rates up to 14,000 barrels per hour depending on the product. During the year ended December 31, 2012, its average combined NGL import and export volumes were 132 thousand barrels per day. In addition to its Houston Ship Channel import/export terminal, it owns a barge dock also located on the Houston Ship Channel, which can load or offload two barges of NGLs or other products simultaneously at rates up to 5,000 barrels per hour.

The Company owns or have interests in 14 NGL fractionators located in Texas and Louisiana. NGL fractionators separate mixed NGL streams into purity NGL products. The primary sources of mixed NGLs fractionated in the United States are domestic natural gas processing plants, crude oil refineries and imports of butane and propane mixtures. Mixed NGLs sourced from domestic natural gas processing plants and crude oil refineries are transported by NGL pipelines and by railcar and truck to NGL fractionation facilities.

The Company�� NGL fractionation facilities process mixed NGL streams for third party customers and support its NGL marketing activities. It earns revenues from NGL fractionation under fee-based arrangements, including a level of demand-based fees. At its Norco facility in Louisiana, it performs fractionation services for certain customers under percent-of-liquids co! ntracts. ! Its fee-based fractionation customers retain title to the NGLs, which it processes for them. Its NGL fractionators include Mont Belvieu fractionator, Shoup and Armstrong fractionator, Hobbs NGL fractionator, Norco NGL fractionator, Promix NGL fractionators and BRF fractionators.

Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Onshore Natural Gas Pipelines & Services business segment includes approximately 19,900 miles of onshore natural gas pipeline systems, which provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas in Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. It leases salt dome natural gas storage facilities located in Texas and Louisiana and own a salt dome storage cavern in Texas, which are integral to its pipeline operations. This segment also includes its related natural gas marketing activities.

The Company�� onshore natural gas pipeline systems and storage facilities provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas from producing regions, such as the San Juan, Barnett Shale, Permian, Piceance, Greater Green River, Haynesville Shale and Eagle Ford Shale supply basins in the western United States. In addition, these systems receive natural gas production from the Gulf of Mexico through coastal pipeline interconnects with offshore pipelines. Its onshore natural gas pipelines receive natural gas from producers, other pipelines or shippers at the wellhead or through system interconnects and redeliver the natural gas to processing facilities, local gas distribution companies, industrial or municipal customers, storage facilities or to other onshore pipelines.

Its onshore natural gas pipelines generates revenues from transportation agreements under which shippers are billed a fee per unit of volume transported multiplied by the volume gathered or delivered. Its onshore natural gas pipelines offer firm capacity reservation services whereby the shipper pays a contractually stated fee based on the level of through! put capac! ity reserved in its pipelines whether or not the shipper actually utilizes such capacity. Under its natural gas storage contracts, there are typically two components of revenues monthly demand payments, which are associated with a customer�� storage capacity reservation and paid regardless of actual usage, and storage fees per unit of volume stored at its facilities. The Company�� natural gas marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of natural gas obtained from third party well-head purchases, regional natural gas processing plants and the open market.

Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Onshore Crude Oil Pipelines & Services business segment includes approximately 5,100 miles of onshore crude oil pipelines, crude oil storage terminals located in Oklahoma and Texas, and its crude oil marketing activities. Its onshore crude oil pipeline systems gather and transport crude oil in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas to refineries, centralized storage terminals and connecting pipelines. Revenue from crude oil transportation is based upon a fixed fee per barrel transported multiplied by the volume delivered.

The Company owns crude oil terminal facilities in Cushing, Oklahoma and Midland, Texas, which are used to store crude oil volumes for it and its customers. Under its crude oil terminaling agreements, it charges customers for crude oil storage based on the number of days a customer has volumes in storage multiplied by a contractual storage fee. With respect to storage capacity reservation agreements, it collects a fee for reserving storage capacity for customers at its terminals. In addition, it charges its customers throughput (or pumpover) fees based on volumes withdrawn from its terminals. It provides fee-based trade documentation services whereby it documents the transfer of title for crude oil volumes transacted between buyers and sellers at its terminals. The Company�� crude oil marketing activities generate revenues! from the! sale and delivery of crude oil obtained from producers or on the open market.

Offshore Pipelines & Services

The Company�� Offshore Pipelines & Services business segment serves active drilling and development regions, including deepwater production fields, in the northern Gulf of Mexico offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. This segment includes approximately 2,300 miles of offshore natural gas and crude oil pipelines and six offshore hub platforms. Its offshore Gulf of Mexico pipelines provide for the gathering and transportation of natural gas or crude oil. Revenue from its offshore pipelines is derived from fee-based agreements whereby the customer is charged a fee per unit of volume gathered or transported multiplied by the volume delivered. Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (Poseidon), in which it has a 36% equity method investment, purchases crude oil from producers and shippers at a receipt point (at a fixed or index-based price less a location differential) and then sells quantities of crude oil at onshore Louisiana locations (at the same fixed or index-based price, as applicable).

The Company�� offshore platforms are components of its pipeline operations. Platforms are used to interconnect the offshore pipeline network; provide means to perform pipeline maintenance; locate compression, separation and production handling equipment and similar assets, and conduct drilling operations during the initial development phase of an oil and natural gas property. Revenues from offshore platform services consist of demand fees and commodity charges. Revenue from commodity charges is based on a fixed-fee per unit of volume delivered to the platform multiplied by the total volume of each product delivered.

Petrochemical & Refined Products Services

The Company�� Petrochemical & Refined Products Services business segment consists of propylene fractionation plants, pipelines and related marketing activities; a butane isom! erization! facility and related pipeline system; octane enhancement and isobutylene production facilities; refined products pipelines, including its Products Pipeline System, and related marketing activities, and marine transportation and other services.

The Company�� propylene fractionation and related activities consist of seven propylene fractionation plants (six located in Mont Belvieu, Texas and a seventh in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), propylene pipeline systems aggregating approximately 680 miles in length and related petrochemical marketing activities. This business includes an export facility and associated above-ground polymer grade propylene storage spheres located in Seabrook, Texas. Results of operations for its polymer grade propylene plants are dependent upon toll processing arrangements and petrochemical marketing activities. The toll processing arrangements include a base-processing fee per gallon (or other unit of measurement). Its petrochemical marketing activities include the purchase and fractionation of refinery grade propylene obtained in the open market and generate revenues from the sale and delivery of products obtained through propylene fractionation. The revenues from its propylene pipelines are based upon a transportation fee per unit of volume multiplied by the volume delivered to the customer. As part of its petrochemical marketing activities, it has refinery grade propylene purchase and polymer grade propylene sales agreements. Its butane isomerization business includes three butamer reactor units and eight associated deisobutanizer units located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which comprise the commercial isomerization facility in the United States.

The Company�� commercial isomerization units convert normal butane into mixed butane, which is fractionated into isobutane, isobutane and residual normal butane. The uses of isobutane are for the production of propylene oxide, isooctane, isobutylene and alkylate for motor gasoline. These processing arrangements inclu! de a base! -processing fee per gallon (or other unit of measurement). Its isomerization business also generates revenues from the sale of natural gasoline created as a by-product of the isomerization process. The Company owns and operates an octane enhancement production facility located in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which produces isooctane, isobutylene and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). The products produced by this facility are used in reformulated motor gasoline blends. The isobutane feedstocks consumed in the production of these products are supplied by its isomerization units. The Company owns a facility located on the Houston Ship Channel, which produces high purity isobutylene (HPIB). The feedstock for this plant is produced by its octane enhancement facility located at its Mont Belvieu complex. HPIB is used in the production of alkylated phenols used as antioxidants, lube oil additives, butyl rubber and resins.

Refined products pipelines and related activities consist of its Products Pipeline System, equity method investment in Centennial Pipeline LLC (Centennial) and refined products marketing activities. The Products Pipeline System transports refined products, and petrochemicals, such as ethylene and propylene and NGLs, such as propane and normal butane. These refined products are produced by refineries and include gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, kerosene, distillates and heating oil. Refined products also include blend stocks, such as raffinate and naphtha. Blend stocks are used to produce gasoline or as a feedstock for certain petrochemicals. The Centennial Pipeline intersects its Products Pipeline System near Creal Springs, Illinois, and loops the Products Pipeline System between Beaumont, Texas and south Illinois. In addition, it has refined products terminals located at Aberdeen, Mississippi and Boligee, Alabama adjacent to the Tombigbee River and on the Houston Ship Channel in Pasadena, Texas. Its related marketing activities generate revenues from the sale and delivery of refin! ed produc! ts obtained from third parties on the open market.

The Company�� marine transportation business consists of tow boats and tank barges, which are used to transport refined products, crude oil, asphalt, condensate, heavy fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas and other petroleum products along inland and intracoastal the United States waterways. Its marine transportation assets service refinery and storage terminal customers along the Mississippi River, the intracoastal waterway between Texas and Florida and the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway system. It owns a shipyard and repair facility located in Houma, Louisiana and marine fleeting facilities in Bourg, Louisiana and Channelview, Texas. Other services consist of the distribution of lubrication oils and specialty chemicals and the bulk transportation of fuels by truck, in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  The Seaway pipeline, the joint venture between�Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD  ) and Enbridge (NYSE: ENB  ) , has taken on a life of its own, as speculators are trying to gain access to the last bit of capacity to sell the space on a secondary market. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy explains what is going on and why this pipeline matters so much to oil producers and investors alike.

• [By David Dittman]

  Question: How do you compare Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP) versus Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD)? if I have to choose, which one is a better buy?

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Producing steady returns
  The other dividend-paying stock I want to take a brief look at is Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD  ) . Investors in Enterprise have actually enjoyed a rising dividend for 36 consecutive quarters. Moreover, it's the 45th distribution increase since Enterprise went public in 1998. That's a great history, and one that's likely to continue repeating.

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014: 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 central 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 Dunstable, 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 reservations 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, approximately 20,200 hotel sites have installed either OPERA, OPERA Xpress PMS, OPERA Lite, or Operetta.

OPERA runs 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�� subsidiary Fidelio Cruise, it markets the Ships Property Management System (SPMS) suite of applications, 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 Cruise software is installed on approximately 220 cruise ships.

Restaurant Information Systems

The Company�� 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�� 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 requirements. 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�� 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 institutional 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�� restaurant POS software systems are Simphony, the MICROS Restaurant Enterprise Series (3700 POS) system, the MICROS 9700 Hospitality Management System (HMS), Hospitality Solution�� 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-inclusive 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 designed for table service and quick service restaurants. It has an open systems architecture using the Microsoft�� Windows operating system and 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 Enterprise 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 management, labor scheduling and control, gift cards, loyalty cards and other marketing programs. The mymicros.net software product can either be purchased through 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�� 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�� Windows NT and 2000 and 2003 operating systems and use a Sybase database. Both products can be integrated with the retailer�� back office systems, and it also offers additional back office, communications, and reporting modules for use with Tradewind and Store21.

Xstore is the Company�� 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 (marketed under the trade name XBR), customer relationship management, gift cards (marketed under the trade name Relate), and audit control (marketed under the trade name Balance). 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�� 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��, 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 provides on-site hardware maintenance and software support through a combination of direct and indirect channels. The on-site hardware maintenance is provided to customers using MICROS 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 include the development and management a customer�� 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 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.

Best Services Companies To Buy For 2014: Ku6 Media Co. Ltd.(KUTV)

Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. operates as an online video company in the People?s Republic of China. It operates ku6.com, an online video portal that provides news, reports, and other interactive entertainment programs for its users, as well as offers a video platform for sharing and watching user-generated content. The company also operates juchang.com that provides copyrighted content, such as movies, television series, and other video programs sourced from its content partners. In addition, it offers Internet audio solutions, including online radio channels, built-in radio for online games, and other services to customers through its online audio advertising business. The company is based in Beijing, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Technology stocks gained Tuesday, with Ku6 Media Co (NASDAQ: KUTV) leading advancers. Among leading tech stocks, gains came from Rubicon Technology (NASDAQ: RBCN), Bitauto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) and Sify Technologies (NASDAQ: SIFY). Utilities shares dropped by 0.11 percent in the US market today.