What Happens to Fixed-Income ETFs With Debt at $22T?

Imagine for a moment, an uncontrolled spender whose credit line has just been suspended. That means this self-destructive spendthrift can continue their spending spree without any accountability. Imagine no more, because that out-of-control spender is the U.S. government.

It’s only been less than a month since Congress reached a temporary deal to suspend the U.S. government’s debt ceiling and the Treasury department has already wasted no time by amassing another $395 billion in new debt.

This time around, suspension of the U.S. debt limit, which was previously fixed at $16.69 trillion, means the Treasury department, can effectively spend whatever amount of money it needs or wants.

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How much debt can the U.S. government rack up by the next debt ceiling deadline on Feb. 7, 2014? At the current spending pace of $395 billion per week, U.S. public debt would reach over $22 trillion.

What about the argument that this $395 billion in new debt was simply a payback from the accounting wizardry (or as Jack Lew called it “extraordinary measures”) the U.S. Treasury used over the past several months to avoid exceeding the previous debt limit?

Factually, these “extraordinary measures” are tantamount to accounting shenanigans and nothing more. Any corporation or corporate executive that attempted to use the U.S. Treasury’s same accounting methods would be charged with fraud.

Lamentably, the U.S. government’s accounting games are no longer a secret.  

"When you are the largest economy in the world, when you are the safe haven in all circumstances, as has been the case, you can't go into that creative accounting business," said International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde in an interview with NBC News' “Meet the Press.”

For now, the bond market is ignoring the U.S. debt conundrum.

After reaching a yearly high of 2.97%, the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries has since fallen by around 13%. In other words, the bond market is expressing the view that the fiscal realities of the U.S. government’s rising debt load simply don’t matter. And over the past two months, that’s kept Treasury bulls celebrating. 

ETFs that benefit from lower yields and higher Treasury bond prices like the ProShares Ultra 20+ Yr. Treasury ETF (UBT) and the Direxion Daily 20+ Yr. Treasury Bull 3x Shares (TMF) have gained between 6% to 9% since early September.

Treasury bonds with long-term maturities (TLT) like those tracked by UBT and TMF are most sensitive to changes in interest rates compared to Treasuries (SHY) with maturities of less than 10-years.

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The ETF Advisor Pro uses a combination of market sentiment, fundamental/technical analysis, history, and common sense to be on the right side of the market. Since the beginning of the year, 74% of our time stamped ETF picks have turned a profit (through 9/30/13). Follow us on Twitter @ ETFguide.

 

PepsiCo: Why Strategy Matters

The long-waged soda wars between Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) and PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP  ) have taken an interesting turn that investors should carefully consider. While it's easy to group the two soda juggernauts together as equals, there are stark differences in leadership direction forming, and each company has made a decision on its future trajectory.

Coca-Cola has decided that it wants to remain a pure-play sparkling beverage company, while Pepsi has decided to break out into food products. The strategic visions of each company are clear and distinct, and investors should weigh each carefully before making a decision to jump in to either stock.

Slow and stodgy? Not so much
It's tempting to assume Coca-Cola and Pepsi to be two lumbering giants, operating in a slow-moving industry with limited avenues for future growth. However, when it comes to growth, investors may well be surprised. Coca-Cola has grown its sales at a compounded annual rate of 10.7% since 2008. Pepsi, meanwhile, has grown revenue by 11%, compounded annually, over the same period.

This strong growth has allowed both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to deliver outstanding shareholder rewards over the past five years. Both companies are among the market's premier dividend-paying stocks, and dividend growth in recent years has been no exception. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo maintain impressive dividend track records, having increased dividends for 51 and 41 years in a row, respectively.

Where the growth is going forward
On the subject of future growth, there's a clear difference in the paths being charted by Coca-Cola and Pepsi. While Coca-Cola has remained steadfast in its position as a purely sparkling beverage company (evident by the fact that sparkling beverages make up approximately three-fourths of the company's revenue),Pepsi has meaningfully branched out into other product areas.

Consider that Pepsi's revenue is almost evenly split between food and beverages. Last year, the food-beverage mix was 51% and 49%, respectively.Clearly, Pepsi has decided to be a diversified food and beverage company to take advantage of the ever-evolving consumer landscape. Pepsi now operates a broad snack and food business, with world-class brands such as Frito-Lay and Gatorade under its umbrella.

The company has even made strides in healthier product alternatives through its Quaker Oats brand and specialty products like Sabra hummus and Naked juices. All told, Pepsi now holds 22 brands that each account for at least $1 billion in annual sales.

Case volumes of sparkling beverages in the United States have flat-lined in recent years, which gives me pause about Coca-Cola's future. However, it's absolutely true that international growth remains strong, particularly in the emerging markets. This is where I believe Coca-Cola has a distinct advantage: Its premier brand, indicated by the fact that Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are the top-two selling sparkling beverages, optimally positions it to take advantage of above-average growth in developing economies.

A smaller industry player to consider
Similar to Coca-Cola in terms of product offerings is Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS  ) , which, like its big brother, relies exclusively on beverages. Even though Dr. Pepper Snapple is a much smaller competitor, with a $9 billion market capitalization, it offers a compelling investment case. That's because not only does Dr. Pepper Snapple offer more growth potential, due to its much smaller size, but it's also cheaper than its larger rivals on most valuation metrics.

While the S&P 500 index trades for a trailing earnings multiple in the high teens, Dr. Pepper Snapple exchanges hands for just 15 times earnings. It's attractively priced when compared to its industry competitors as well, as its multiple is significantly below Coca-Cola's 20 P/E and Pepsi's 18 P/E. And, Dr. Pepper's 3.5% dividend yield stands above its peers' payouts.

However, it appears Dr. Pepper Snapple trades for a measurable discount for a good reason, which is its underwhelming growth over the past five years. Since 2008, it's grown its sales by just 1.2% compounded annually.Moreover, its balance sheet has deteriorated: The company's shareholder equity and total assets have declined, while its debts have grown. As a result, investors would be wise to focus on its two larger peers.

Valuation and strategy make Pepsi the beverage stock to buy
Pepsi holds a more attractive valuation than Coca-Cola at recent prices, and in my estimation, a better outlook. Consumers are widely adopting healthier lifestyles, shying away from traditional high-calorie sparkling beverages. To be fair, Pepsi still holds many products that don't exactly cater to healthy living, but at the same time it isn't blindly denying the trend to the extent Coca-Cola is.

Pepsi has meaningfully split its business between food and beverages, and within each category, owns plenty of brands that appeal to calorie-conscious consumers. As a result, despite Coca-Cola's attractive emerging market growth potential, I believe the future to be brighter for Pepsi thanks to its visionary management. 

Strategy and Dividends
Dividend stocks can make you rich. It's as simple as that. While they don't garner the notoriety of high-flying growth stocks, they're also less likely to crash and burn. And over the long term, the compounding effect of the quarterly payouts, as well as their growth, adds up faster than most investors imagine. With this in mind, our analysts sat down to identify the absolute best of the best when it comes to rock-solid dividend stocks, drawing up a list in this free report of nine that fit the bill. To discover the identities of these companies before the rest of the market catches on, you can download this valuable free report by simply clicking here now.

 

Surprise! Not Every Hedgie Loves the Lifted Ad Ban

When the Securities and Exchange Commission lifted the ban on hedge fund advertising last week, many in the industry applauded the move, saying it was high time that hedge funds and private equity firms got a level playing field against the competition in terms of marketing themselves.

"The lift on the 80-year-old ban that prevented entrepreneurs from advertising their efforts to raise equity is a huge step forward,” said Joanna Schwartz, CEO of the crowdfunding platform EarlyShares.com, in a highly optimistic statement about the future for hedgies and venture capitalists. “Economic growth is driven by small business and enterprising individuals who follow their passions, and that requires capital. This ruling eliminates a big friction point in the capital-raising process."

Clearly, there are those who loved the lifted ban. Yet some in the hedge fund industry believe that marketing isn’t necessary for these sophisticated investments, and others worry that fraud may be an unintended consequence. Surprisingly, some are plainly against the congressionally mandated rule required by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act that allows issuers to use previously unavailable solicitation and ad methods to find new investors.

Adam Patti, CEO of IndexIQ, which sells exchange traded funds that replicate hedge funds, opposes the lifted ad ban because it may ultimately do harm to what until now has been a closed market for sophisticated investors.

“I believe that it could be harmful not only to investors but the industry if there is not a proper amount of education provided to investors who will be seeing all these ads for vehicles they probably shouldn’t be invested in,” Patti said in a phone interview. “If an investor has a bad experience with an investment, it could be bad for the industry. The lawyers are probably circling already to pounce on the first thing that creates problems.”

‘The Advisor Should Educate the Investor’

Patti then pointed to the hypothetical example of the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, whose gold fund plummeted 65% through June.

“Paulson’s fund has had a horrible performance this year,” Patti said. “What about that little old lady watching the Today show with $1 million to invest, and she sees an ad for the Paulson fund, and calls her advisor saying she wants to invest in that fund that she saw on TV? An investor may technically have access to that fund, become more interested, go to their advisor and start clamoring for the fund without knowing the risks. Certainly, the advisor should educate the investor.”

On the plus side, BackTrack Reports founder Randy Shain, whose investigative firm provides due diligence background reports on some 7,000 hedge funds, said he was thrilled with the lifted ad ban.

“I’m all for information being public,” said the self-described libertarian in a phone interview. “I’ve always thought this ban was unrealistic. It doesn’t speak to the way that business gets done. When someone thinks of investing in a business, you don’t say, ‘I can’t tell you about it.’ The removal of the ban is a welcome change.”

Don’t Look for Ads at Bus Stops

Shain acknowledged that the ban was intended to protect retail investors from unscrupulous companies. Yet only accredited investors with a net worth of at least $1 million or who earn a minimum of $200,000 are permitted to invest in these offerings, he said.

“Big hedge funds are very unlikely to market to the average individual and post signs at bus stops,” Shain said. “It’s in their interest to market to institutional investors. If you as an individual investor don’t have the money to do due diligence on a hedge fund, then you don’t have the money to invest. You’re either all-in or you’re not. Think about the due diligence people do when they buy a $1 million house.”

As people in the hedge fund industry watch to see whether any unintended consequences, such as fraud, result from the lifted ban, Bloomberg predicts that many funds will feel pressure to promote themselves as competitors take advantage of their new freedom to advertise. For example, write Dave Michaels and Margaret Collins for Bloomberg, “some may experiment with low-cost venues such as social media while others may sponsor sporting events that attract wealthy investors.”

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Ultimately, however, many sophisticated investors who are drawn to advertised hedge funds may decide to avoid them. As Pragmatic Capitalism blogger Cullen Roche points out in “So Much for Non-Correlation in Hedge Funds,” recent data show not only “abysmal performance,” but increasing mutual fund-like characteristics in many hedge funds.

“I hate to be so general about this when there are clearly some funds that are probably worth owning for various reasons, but it’s kind of amazing that the 2 & 20 fee structure has lasted this long,” Roche writes. “At this rate the fee structure of the hedge fund industry is beginning to look a lot like a legalized scam.  And now that scam is going to be sold to every mom and pop in the mainstream media when hedge funds unleash their vast coffers.”

Read SEC Lifts Ban on Hedge Fund Advertising at ThinkAdvisor.

Does EA Have Any Game Left?

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) stock is up more than 100 percent in the past year. The share price has surged during a period in which CEO John Ricciteilo resigned after a disastrous release of a new SimCity game and the company was voted the worst company in America for the second time in a row. So what's actually behind the rise of the stock, and can it continue to climb higher? Let's use our CHEAT SHEET investing framework to decide whether EA is an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE, or STAY AWAY.

C = Catalysts for the Stock's Movement

After the resignation of its CEO and “winning” the title of worst company in America earlier this year, EA managed to give investors good news via its first-quarter earnings results (from an accounting perspective, these results were actually EA's fourth-quarter 2013 results). EA's first-quarter revenue was up 6 percent from the year before and its gross margin increased by 10 basis points due to increased sales in higher margin mobile gaming and increased cost-cutting initiatives.

EA's new strategy focuses on growing its social and mobile game offerings. The company has performed well so far: Mobile game revenues increased 21 percent from the previous year. EA is also enjoying success in generating incremental sales and stronger user engagement from bringing its most popular console games to mobile and social platforms. Look for EA's mobile game revenues to continue to grow, as the company has 15 new mobile titles slated for release this year.

EA has been in the business of creating and maintaining relationships this year. Recently, the company inked contracts with Disney (NYSE:DIS), in which the company will produce a line of Star Wars games, and Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), in which EA is planning on releasing adaptations of popular board games on mobile platforms such as Monopoly. EA seems poised for success on new generation console releases later this year by Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Sony (NYSE:SNE). The company recently renewed its contracts with major sports organizations and is set to release new sports titles along with the release of next-generation consoles.

E = Excellent Relative Performance to Peers?

While EA looks poised for profitability this year, how does it stack up against its chief competitor, Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI)? Activision has a much more attractive operating margin, due mainly to more in-house content production. Additionally, Activision is relatively less expensive than EA with a forward P/E ratio, and it pays a healthy dividend yielding 1.3 percent. Its growth prospects are more stifled than EA's because of declining popularity in its World of Warcraft game series and increased competition facing its celebrated Call of Duty game. EA's growth rate is projected to be higher as margins continue to grow and the company pushes into the mobile and social gaming sectors.

	EA	ATVI
Forward P/E	16.79	14.80
PEG Ratio	1.31	2.29
Operating Margin	3.24%	30.93%
Growth Est. (Next 5 yrs.)	15.18%	7.65%

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Electronic Arts is currently trading at around $23.75, well above both its 200-day moving average of $18.66 and its 50-day moving average of $22.75. The stock has been experiencing a strong uptrend over the past year and is up more than 100 percent over the last 12 months. The stock hit a fresh 52-week high of $23.99 on Monday.

Conclusion

With a new CEO in place and a clear focus on expansion into the growing mobile and social gaming spheres, EA should experience stable profitability in the medium term. However, the company is expensive right now compared to its historical price-to-earnings ratio. EA seems to have put its PR problems and release glitches in the past and has an impressive lineup of games in the pipeline. In-house content creation is an area EA must expand on to maintain success in the marketplace. Still, EA doesn't appear to have ample growth prospects to justify its relatively high price. Investors should WAIT AND SEE if they can acquire shares of EA at a lower price in the future.

Gentex to Acquire Johnson Controls Unit

Gentex (NASDAQ: GNTX  ) is accelerating its efforts in the vehicle-based remote control segment. The company announced it has signed a definitive agreement with car-parts supplier Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI  ) to acquire the latter's HomeLink unit. This is described by Gentex as "a vehicle-based control system that enables drivers to remotely activate garage door openers, entry door locks, home lighting, security systems, entry gates, and other radio frequency convenience products." According to Gentex, it can function with nearly all automatic garage door openers.

The price of the deal is $700 million.

HomeLink's owner-to-be is very familiar with the system -- Gentex has been integrating it into its signature automatic-dimming rearview mirrors for over a decade. The company estimates that, once fully integrated, HomeLink will contribute $125 million-$150 million in annual revenue.

The transaction is subject to approval from the relevant regulators. Gentex expects it to close "on or about" September 30 of this year.

Can You Trust the Cash Flow at International Rectifier?

Although business headlines still tout earnings numbers, many investors have moved past net earnings as a measure of a company's economic output. That's because earnings are very often less trustworthy than cash flow, since earnings are more open to manipulation based on dubious judgment calls.

Earnings' unreliability is one of the reasons Foolish investors often flip straight past the income statement to check the cash flow statement. In general, by taking a close look at the cash moving in and out of the business, you can better understand whether the last batch of earnings brought money into the company, or merely disguised a cash gusher with a pretty headline.

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Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on International Rectifier (NYSE: IRF  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. FCF = free cash flow. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over the past 12 months, International Rectifier generated $47.5 million cash while it booked a net loss of $150.9 million. That means it turned 4.9% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds OK.

All cash is not equal
Unfortunately, the cash flow statement isn't immune from nonsense, either. That's why it pays to take a close look at the components of cash flow from operations, to make sure that the cash flows are of high quality. What does that mean? To me, it means they need to be real and replicable in the upcoming quarters, rather than being offset by continual cash outflows that don't appear on the income statement (such as major capital expenditures).

For instance, cash flow based on cash net income and adjustments for non-cash income-statement expenses (like depreciation) is generally favorable. An increase in cash flow based on stiffing your suppliers (by increasing accounts payable for the short term) or shortchanging Uncle Sam on taxes will come back to bite investors later. The same goes for decreasing accounts receivable; this is good to see, but it's ordinary in recessionary times, and you can only increase collections so much. Finally, adding stock-based compensation expense back to cash flows is questionable when a company hands out a lot of equity to employees and uses cash in later periods to buy back those shares.

So how does the cash flow at International Rectifier look? Take a peek at the chart below, which flags questionable cash flow sources with a red bar.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. Dollar values in millions. TTM = trailing 12 months.

When I say "questionable cash flow sources," I mean items such as changes in taxes payable, tax benefits from stock options, and asset sales, among others. That's not to say that companies booking these as sources of cash flow are weak, or are engaging in any sort of wrongdoing, or that everything that comes up questionable in my graph is automatically bad news. But whenever a company is getting more than, say, 10% of its cash from operations from these dubious sources, investors ought to make sure to refer to the filings and dig in.

With 81.1% of operating cash flow coming from questionable sources, International Rectifier investors should take a closer look at the underlying numbers. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 14.6% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from capital expenditures, which consumed 66.1% of cash from operations.

A Foolish final thought
Most investors don't keep tabs on their companies' cash flow. I think that's a mistake. If you take the time to read past the headlines and crack a filing now and then, you're in a much better position to spot potential trouble early. Better yet, you'll improve your odds of finding the underappreciated home-run stocks that provide the market's best returns.

Is International Rectifier the best semiconductor stock for you? You may be missing something obvious. Check out the semiconductor company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.

We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service.

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Why Yandex Shares Jumped

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Russian search giant Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX  ) jumped by as much as 18% today after the company reported first-quarter earnings.

So what: Revenue in the first quarter rose 36% to $257.3 million, with earnings per share of $0.21. Both figures were better than investors were expecting. Yandex's bottom line grew by 79%, demonstrating the scalability of its operations. The company also redesigned its home page and updated several of its mobile apps during the quarter.

Now what: The company is now increasing its revenue guidance for 2013 and expects revenue to grow 30% to 35% this year on a ruble basis, before factoring in currency fluctuations. The company closed the quarter with $942.6 million in cash and investments. Yandex remains the dominant search engine in Russia, with the company citing data from LiveInternet that pegs its market share at 61.6% which is up sequentially and year over year. Advertisers grew 26% to 226,000.

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Interested in more info on Yandex? Add it to your watchlist by clicking here.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014

If it wasn't clear before, it is now: The pundits and analysts who predicted a massive onslaught of inflation thanks to the Federal Reserve's easy-money policies were wrong.

A report issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday showed that, despite the Federal Reserve's now third round of quantitative easing, during which it's pumped $85 billion into the economy every month since last September, consumer prices are hardly budging.

Core prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose only 1.1% in April compared with the same month last year. As Josh Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal observed, that matched the smallest increase in underlying prices since the agency started tracking them in 1960.

Putting ideological beliefs to the side, one can't help wondering how analysts and commentators, myself included, got it so wrong. And the answer is that many of us failed to fully appreciate the depths of our economic woes and the implications for the money-creation process.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Natural Gas(NG)

NovaGold Resources Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties primarily in North America. The company primarily explores for gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead ores. It holds interests in the Donlin Creek property covering 81,361 acres and the Ambler property comprising 90,614 acres located in Alaska; and the Galore Creek property comprising 293,838 acres located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. The company was formerly known as NovaCan Mining Resources (1985) Limited and changed its name to NovaGold Resources Inc. in March 1987. NovaGold Resources Inc. was founded in 1984 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  He increased his holdings in gold companies in the fourth quarter accordingly. Gold stocks he found attractive in the fourth quarter are: Novagold Resources (NG), Randgold Resources (GOLD), Iamgold Corp. (IAG), Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX), Agnico Eagle (AEM) and International Tower Hill (THM).

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Solazyme Inc (SZYM.O)

Solazyme, Inc. (Solazyme), incorporated on March 31, 2003, makes oil. The Company�� technology transforms a range of plant-based sugars into oils. Its renewable products can replace or enhance oils derived from the world�� three existing sources-petroleum, plants and animal fats. The Company is focused on commercializing its products into three target markets: fuels and chemicals, nutrition, and skin and personal care. In 2010, the Company launched its products, the Golden Chlorella line of dietary supplements. In March 2011, the Company launched its Algenist brand for the luxury skin care market through marketing and distribution arrangements with Sephora S.A. (Sephora International), Sephora USA, Inc. (Sephora USA), and QVC, Inc. (QVC).

The Company is engaged in development activities with multiple partners, including Chevron U.S.A. Inc., through its division Chevron Technology Ventures (Chevron), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecope trol), Qantas Airways Limited (Qantas) and Conopoco, Inc., doing business as Unilever (Unilever).

In 2010, the Company entered into a 50/50 joint venture with Roquette Freres, S.A. (Roquette). In November 2010, the Company entered into a joint venture and operating agreement for Solazyme Roquette Nutritionals with Roquette. In December 2010, the Company entered into an exclusive distribution relationship with Sephora International, and in January 2011, the Company entered into a distribution relationship with Sephora USA. Under the arrangements, each of Sephora International and Sephora USA will distribute the Algenist product line in their respective territories.

In Fuels and Chemicals market its renewable oils can be refined and sold as drop-in replacements for marine, motor vehicle and jet fuels, as well as replacements for chemicals that are traditionally derived from petroleum or other conventional oils. The Company work with its refining par tner Honeywell UOP to produce Soladiesel (renewable diesel! ),! Soladiesel renewable diesel for United States Naval vessels, and Solajet renewable jet fuel for both military and commercial application testing. In nutrition market the Company has developed microalgae-based food ingredients, including oils and powders that enhance the nutritional profile and functionality of food products while reducing costs for consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. In Skin and Personal Care market the Company hs developed a portfolio of branded microalgae-based products. Its ingredient is Alguronic Acid, which the Company has formulated into a range of skin care products with anti-aging benefits. The Company is also developing algal oils as replacements for the oils used in skin and personal care products.

The Company competes with BP p.l.c., Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Exxon Mobil Corporation, jatropha, camelina, SALOV North America Corporation, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Cargill, Incorporated, DSM Food Specialties and Danisco A/S< /p>

Top 10 Tech Companies For 2014: IHS Inc. (IHS)

IHS Inc. (IHS), incorporated on May 5, 1994, is a source of information and insight in areas, such as energy and power; design and supply chain; defense, risk, and security; environment, health and safety (EHS) and sustainability; country and industry forecasting, and commodities, pricing, and cost. The Company is organized by geographies into three business segments: Americas, which includes the United States, Canada, and Latin America; EMEA, which includes Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and APAC (Asia Pacific). IHS sources data and transforms it into information and insight that businesses, Governments, and others use every day to make decisions. Its product development teams have also created Web services and application interfaces. These services allow its customers to integrate the Company�� information with other data, business processes and applications (computer-aided design, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and product data/lifecycle management). The Company develops its offerings based on its customers' workflows, and it sells and delivers them into the industries in which IHS�� customers operate. As of November 30, 2011, HIS focused on five customer workflows: strategy, planning, and analysis; energy technical; product engineering; supply chain, and EHS & sustainability. As of November 30, 2011, it was focused on six verticals: energy and natural resources; Government, defense and security; chemicals; transportation; manufacturing, and technology, media, and telecommunications. In March 2012, the Company acquired Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display industry; the Computer Assisted Product Selection (CAPSTM) electronic components database and tools business, including CAPS Expert, from PartMiner Worldwide, and the digital oil and gas pipeline and infrastructure information business from Hild Technology Services. In March 2012, the Company acquired IMS Research. In March 2012, the Company acquired BDW Automotive GmbH. I! n May 2012, it acquired Xedar Corporation, a developer and provider of geospatial information products and services. In July 2012, the Company acquired CyberRegs business from Citation Technologies, Inc. In July 2012, the Company acquired GlobalSpec, Inc. On April 16, 2011, IHS acquired ODS-Petrodata (Holdings) Ltd. ODS-Petrodata is a provider of data, information, and market intelligence to the offshore energy industry. On April 26, 2011, it acquired Dyadem International, Ltd. (Dyadem). Dyadem offers operational risk management and quality risk management solutions. On May 2, 2011, the Company acquired Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI). CMAI is a leading provider of market and business advisory services for the worldwide petrochemical, specialty chemicals, fertilizer, plastics, fibers, and chlor-alkali industries. On August 10, 2011, the Company acquired Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT). SMT offers Windows-based exploration and production software, and its solutions are used by geoscientists worldwide to evaluate potential reservoirs and plan field development. On November 10, 2011, it acquired Purvin & Gertz. Purvin & Gertz is a global advisory and market research firm that provides technical, commercial, and strategic advice to international clients in the petroleum refining, natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil and petrochemical industries. Energy and Power IHS covers the technical and economic spectrum of energy and power. Detailed records and forecasts on oil, gas and coal supplies, combined with insights on traditional and emerging energy markets, help enable its customers to make decisions. Its offerings include production information on more than 90 % of the world's oil and gas production in more than 100 countries; oil and gas well data that includes geological information on more than four million current and historic wells worldwide; energy activity data that includes current and future seismic, drilling and development activities in more than 180 countries and 335 hydrocarbon-producing regions worldwide; information and research to develop unconventional hydrocarbon resources-shale gas, coal bed methane and heavy oil; knowledge of energy markets, strategies, industry trends, and companies; information and research summits, such as IHS CERAWeek and the IHS Herold Pacesetters Energy Conference, which offer decision makers the opportunity to interact with its experts, and critical information about analysis of coal, nuclear and renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with DrillingInfo, Inc., TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Accenture, Deloitte, Wood Mackenzie, Ltd., Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton, LMKR and Paradigm Ltd. Design and Supply Chain IHS Design and Supply Chain solutions provide information for customers that allow them to manage a product from conception to research and development to production, maintenance and disposal. It also provides companies access to specifications and standards. The Company�� offerings include market and technology research and analysis; standards management solutions, including more than 370 commercial and military standards and specification publishing organizations; advanced product design and process engineering; strategic product content and supply chain management; environmentally compliant product design; counterfeit part risk mitigation; product performance and cost optimization, and indirect parts and maintenance, repair, and operations logistics, inventory and cash flow optimization tables, including wind, solar, and hydro power. The Company competes with SAI Global and Thomson Reuters Corporation. Defense, Risk and Security IHS delivers open source intelligence in the areas of global defense, risk, and security, including maritime domain awareness. IHS offers open source intelligence solutions for military planners, national security analysts, and defense and maritime industry strategy and planning professionals. The Company�� offerings include military and national security assessments; defense equipment and technology information; defense budgets and procurement forecasting; defense industry trends and analysis; terrorism and insurgency analysis; global commercial ship identification and specifications; live tracking of commercial ship movements; shipping and shipbuilding markets and forecasts, and ports and port security information. The Company competes with McGraw-Hill, Gannett, Forecast International and Control Risks Group. EHS and Sustainability IHS EHS and Sustainability solutions support critical decisions around environmental, health and safety, operational risk, greenhouse gas and energy, product stewardship and corporate responsibility. The Company�� offerings include global and local software implementations; material compliance and lifecycle information content; strategic planning services in greenhouse gas management and cap-and-trade; compliance and verification expertise for local, regional, national, and international EHS and sustainability management system responsibilities, and risk management assessment across a range of industries. The Company competes with SAP and Verisk. Country and Industry Forecasting IHS delivers detailed forecasts and analysis of economic conditions within political, economic, legal, tax, operational, and security environments worldwide. Additionally, IHS provides forecasts, market-sizing, and risk assessments for a number of industries worldwide, including aerospace and defense, agriculture, automotive, chemicals, construction, consumer and retail, energy, finance, government, healthcare and pharmaceutical, military and security, mining and metals, commerce and transport, and telecommunications. Its offerings include in-depth analysis of the business conditions, economic prospects, and risks in more than 200 countries and more than 170 industries; security risk analysis and daily updates on both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and sovereign risk ratings in more than 200 countries; event-driven updates of its risk analysis and ratings; short-, medium- and long-term forecasts for business planning and decision making; historical information since 1970; Deep market intelligence for the automotive, agriculture, chemicals, construction, consumer goods, commerce and transport, energy, financial, healthcare and pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and steel industries; and scenario explorations examining alternative outcomes to the questions impacting global business. The Company competes with Economist Intelligence Unit and Moody's Corporation. Commodities, Pricing and Cost IHS offers information, forecasts, and analysis to help its customers understand the how, when, and what of commodity prices and labor costs. IHS analysts monitor and forecast more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs across the regions for sectors, including energy products, chemicals, steel, nonferrous metals, industrial machinery and equipment, electronic components, paper and packaging, transportation, and building materials. Its offerings include analysis and forecasts for more than 1,300 global price, wage, and manufacturing costs; market intelligence of drivers, assumptions, and risks relating to commodity and service prices; cost and price data with actionable insights; forecasts covering global spot market prices, wages, and material costs; advisory forums to assist in monitoring, forecasting, and managing power and energy portfolio project costs, and consulting capabilities that enable clients to source materials. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Data provided by IHS (IHS) show that ReneSola merchant shipments more than tripled in the first six months of 2013 when compared to the first half of 2012 — something that should obviously have SOL stock investors smiling. More importantly, that’s something other solar stocks have not yet done.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Colorado-based IHS (NYSE: IHS  ) will be under new management soon. The business analytics provider announced Wednesday that current President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Key will take over the role of President and Chief Executive Officer from Jerre Stead on June 1.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Fleetcor Technologies Inc (FLT)

FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (FleetCor) is an independent global provider of specialized payment products and services to businesses, commercial fleets, oil companies, petroleum marketers and government entities in countries throughout North America, Latin America and Europe. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company processed more than 215 million transactions on its networks and third-party networks. The Company operates in two segments: North American and International segments. The Company provides its payment products and services in a variety of combinations to create payment solutions for its customers and partners. In August 2011, the Company acquired Mexican prepaid fuel card and food voucher business based in Mexico City, Mexico. On December 13, 2011, the Company acquired Allstar Business Solutions Limited, a fleet card company based in the United Kingdom. In July 2012, the Company acquired a Russian fuel card company. In July 2012, the Company acquired CTF Technologies, Inc.

The Company uses third-party networks to deliver its payment programs and services. In order to deliver its payment programs and services and process transactions, it owns and operates closed-loop networks through which it electronically connects to merchants and captures, analyzes and reports information. The Company also provides a range of services, such as issuing and processing. The Company markets its payment products directly to a range of commercial fleet customers, including vehicle fleets of all sizes and government fleets. Among these customers, it provides its products and services to small and medium commercial fleets. The Company also manages commercial fleet card programs for oil companies, such as British Petroleum (BP) (including its subsidiary Arco), Chevron and Citgo, and over 800 petroleum marketers.

The Company sells a range of fleet and lodging payment programs directly and indirectly through partners, such as oil companies and petroleum marketers. It provides it! s customers with various card products that function like a charge card to purchase fuel, lodging and related products and services at participating locations. The Company supports these cards with issuing, processing and information services that enable it to manage card accounts, facilitate the routing, authorization, clearing and settlement of transactions. The Company provides these services in a variety of outsourced solutions ranging from an end-to-end solution (consisting issuing, processing and network services) to limited back office processing services.

In addition, the Company offers a telematics solution in Europe that combines global positioning, satellite tracking and other wireless technology to allow fleet operators to monitor the capacity utilization and movement of their vehicles and drivers. The Company offers prepaid fuel and food vouchers and cards in Mexico that may be used as a form of payment in restaurants, grocery stores and gas stations. Approximately 10.4% of its revenue during the year ended December 31, 2011 came from its lodging and telematics products.

During 2011, the Company owns and operates eight closed-loop networks in North America and internationally. Fuelman network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United States. Corporate Lodging Consultants network (CLC) is the Company�� lodging network in the United States and Canada. The CLC Lodging network covers more than 17,700 hotels across the United States and Canada. Commercial Fueling Network (CFN) is the Company�� members only unattended fueling location network in the United States and Canada. Keyfuels network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the United Kingdom.

CCS network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Petrol Plus Region (PPR) network is the Company�� primary fleet card network in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Mexican network is the Company�� fuel! and food! card and voucher network in Mexico. Allstar network is the Company�� fleet card network in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the Company issues corporate cards that utilize the MasterCard payment network, which includes 176,000 fuel sites and 398,000 maintenance locations across the country. The networks of locations owned by the Company�� oil and petroleum marketer partners in both North America and internationally are utilized to support the card programs of these partners.

UNION TANK Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG (UTA) operates a network of over 46,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 38 countries throughout Europe, including more than 31,000 fueling sites. DKV operates a network of over 45,000 fleet card-accepting locations across 36 countries throughout Europe, including more than 30,500 fueling sites. In Mexico, the Company issues fuel cards and food cards that utilize the Carnet payment network, which includes approximately 8,700 fueling sites and 78,890 food locations across the country.

The Company competes with Wright Express Corporation, Comdata Corporation, U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems Inc., Edenred and Sodexo, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Calling all cash flows
  When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on FleetCor Technologies (NYSE: FLT  ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Williams Partners L.P.(WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. focuses on natural gas transportation, gathering, treating and processing, storage, natural gas liquid fractionation, and oil transportation activities in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Gas Pipeline, and Midstream Gas and Liquids. The Gas Pipeline segment owns and operates approximately 13,900 miles of pipelines with annual throughput of approximately 2,700 trillion British thermal units of natural gas and delivery capacity of approximately 13 million dekatherms of gas. This segment also owns interests in joint venture interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline systems. The Midstream Gas and Liquids segment includes natural gas gathering, processing, and treating facilities; and crude oil gathering and transportation facilities that serve the producing basins in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, the Gulf of Mexico, and Pennsylvania. Williams Partners GP LLC serves as the general partner of the company. Williams Partners L.P . was founded in 2005 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dividend]

  Here are my most promising stocks from the list:
  
  Williams Partners (WPZ) has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion. The company employs 3,658 people, generates revenue of $7.320 billion and has a net income of $1.232 billion. Williams Partners�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $2.273 billion. The EBITDA margin is 31.05 percent (the operating margin is 20.72 percent and the net profit margin 16.83 percent).

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  When it comes to natural gas, Williams Partners (WPZ) is simply one of the biggest players. The firm is one of the leading midstream players in the prolific Marcellus shale. That dominance has WPZ�� network of pipelines carrying roughly 14% of all the natural gas consumed in the U.S.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (FO)

Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. (Falcon) is an energy company engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing petroleum and natural gas properties. The Company focuses on the acquisition, exploration and development of conventional and unconventional petroleum and natural gas projects in Central Europe (specifically Hungary), Australia and South Africa. Falcon holds 100% interest in 245,775 acres in a production license in the Mako Trough, southern Pannonian Basin in Hungary. Effective July 18, 2013, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd raised its interest to 96.9% from 72.68%, by acquiring a further 24.22% interest in Falcon Oil & Gas Australia Ltd, from Sweetpea Petroleum Corp Pty Ltd, a unit of PetroHunter Energy Corp. Effective September 19, 2013, Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd acquired the remaining 3.1% stake, which it did not already own, in Falcon Oil & Gas Australia Ltd, a oil and gas exploration and production company.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: SilverCrest Mines Inc (SVL)

SilverCrest Mines Inc. (SilverCrest) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Mexico and Central America. The Company�� principal focus is the development and operation of the Santa Elena Project, which property consists of seven mineral concessions totaling 2,726.54 hectares, portions of which include the producing Santa Elena gold and silver mine located northeast of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico. It operates in three segments: the mine operations at Santa Elena, Mexico; mine exploration and evaluation projects at La Joya and Cruz de Mayo, Mexico, and Corporate. The Company is also focused on exploring and developing its La Joya Property located in Durango, Mexico, which contains a discovered polymetallic deposit. The Company�� other mineral properties include the Cruz de Mayo Project (Mexico), the La Joya Property (Mexico), the Silver Angel Project (Mexico) and the El Zapote Project (El Salvador).

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: GMX Resources Inc.(GMXR)

GMX Resources Inc. operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in the United States. It has interests in two oil shale resources, including the Williston Basin that targets the Bakken/Sanish-Three Forks in North Dakota/Montana; and the DJ Basin, which targets the Niobrara Formation in Wyoming. The company also holds interests in natural gas resources comprising the Haynesville/Bossier Formation and the Cotton Valley Sand Formation in the East Texas Basin. As of December 31, 2010, it had proved reserves of 319.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent; and 264 net producing wells in east Texas. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Linn Energy LLC (LINE)

Linn Energy, LLC (LINN Energy) is an independent oil and natural gas company. The Company�� properties are located in the United States, primarily in the Mid-Continent, the Permian Basin, Michigan, California and the Williston Basin. Mid-Continent Deep includes the Texas Panhandle Deep Granite Wash formation and deep formations in Oklahoma and Kansas. Mid-Continent Shallow includes the Texas Panhandle Brown Dolomite formation and shallow formations in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois. Permian Basin includes areas in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico. Michigan includes the Antrim Shale formation in the northern part of the state. California includes the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. Williston Basin includes the Bakken formation in North Dakota. On December 15, 2011, the Company acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located primarily in the Granite Wash of Texas and Oklahoma from Plains Exploration & Production Company (Plains).

On November 1, 2011, and November 18, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On June 1, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties in the Cleveland play, located in the Texas Panhandle, from Panther Energy Company, LLC and Red Willow Mid-Continent, LLC (collectively Panther). On May 2, 2011, and May 11, 2011, it completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin. On April 1, 2011, and April 5, 2011, the Company completed two acquisitions of certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Permian Basin. On March 31, 2011, it acquired certain oil and natural gas properties located in the Williston Basin from an affiliate of Concho Resources Inc. (Concho). During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company completed other smaller acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties located in its various operating regions. As of December 31, 2011, the Company operated 7,759 or 69% of its 11,230 gross productiv! e wells.

Mid-Continent Deep

The Mid-Continent Deep region includes properties in the Deep Granite Wash formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths ranging from 10,000 feet to 16,000 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma and Kansas, which produce at depths of more than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Deep proved reserves represented approximately 47% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 49% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 285 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Mid-Continent Shallow

The Mid-Continent Shallow region includes properties producing from the Brown Dolomite formation in the Texas Panhandle, which produces at depths of approximately 3,200 feet, as well as properties in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Illinois, which produce at depths of less than 8,000 feet. Mid-Continent Shallow proved reserves represented approximately 20% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 70% were classified as proved developed reserves. The Company owns and operates a network of natural gas gathering systems consisting of approximately 665 miles of pipeline and associated compression and metering facilities that connect to numerous sales outlets in the Texas Panhandle.

Permian Basin

The Permian Basin is an oil and natural gas basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico and produce at depths ranging from 2,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Permian Basin proved reserves represented approximately 16% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 56% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Michigan

The Michigan region includes properties producing from the Antrim Shale formation in the northern ! part of t! he state, which produces at depths ranging from 600 feet to 2,200 feet. Michigan proved reserves represented approximately 9% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 90% were classified as proved developed reserves.

California

The California region consists of the Brea Olinda Field of the Los Angeles Basin. California proved reserves represented approximately 6% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 93% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Williston Basin

The Williston Basin is one of the premier oil basins in the United States. The Company�� properties are located in North Dakota and produce at depths ranging from 9,000 feet to 12,000 feet. Williston Basin proved reserves represented approximately 2% of total proved reserves, as of December 31, 2011, of which 48% were classified as proved developed reserves.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Oil and gas income producer, LINN Energy (NASDAQ: LINE  ) , along with its affiliate LinnCo (NASDAQ: LNCO  ) , will report first-quarter earnings on April 25 before markets open. It's an important report for LINN which has been under the spotlight of short sellers that have questioned the company's true value proposition to investors. While the company has done a good jobs to alleviate investor concerns, the upcoming report needs to put them completely at ease. With that as context, here are three things I'll be watching for in the report.

Top 10 Energy Stocks To Own For 2014: Caiterra International Energy Corp (CTI.V)

CaiTerra International Energy Corporation (Caiterra), formerly Cyterra Capital Corp., is a Canada-based company is engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas properties. The Company�� project includes Faust, Amadou and Lac La Biche. On March 9, 2012, the Company completed its qualifying transaction with West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP), pursuant to which the Company acquired all of WPP�� working interests in certain petroleum and natural gas leases and an oil sand lease in the Lac La Biche and Amadou Projects located in Alberta, Canada and certain other assets (the QT Oil and Gas Properties) from West Pacific Petroleum Inc. (WPP). On December 17, 2012 the Company acquired the Faust Property located just north of the Swan Hills oil field and south of the Town of Slave Lake.

A Record Number of Americans to Hit the Road for the Holidays

The U.S. economy is still sluggish and the consumer remains cautious. Yet between Saturday, December 21, and Wednesday, January 1, almost a third of Americans plan to hit the road, according to AAA. That would mark the fifth consecutive year of increased holiday and year-end travel, as well as the highest travel volume recorded for the season.

The 2013/2014 AAA Year-End Holidays Travel Forecast includes the following highlights:

Holiday travel to total 94.5 million, an increase of 0.6 percent from the 94 million who traveled last year. Year-end holiday travel is expected to increase for the fifth consecutive year, reaching a new high since data has been collected by AAA. Ninety-one percent of travelers or 85.8 million to travel by automobile, an increase of 0.9 percent. Nearly 30 percent (29.7) of all Americans will take a trip this holiday, with more than one in four (27 percent) taking a road trip. Holiday air travel is expected to decline slightly to 5.53 million travelers from 5.61 last year. Median spending expected to increase slightly to $765, compared to $759 last year.

The calendar also is likely to help spur an increase in holiday travel this year. When the holidays fall on a Wednesday, travelers have more flexibility with their travel plans. They often can begin their trip earlier or extend it through the following weekend.

“Of all the travel holidays, the year-end holiday season remains the least volatile as Americans will not let economic conditions dictate their travel plans to celebrate the holidays,” said AAA Chief Operating Officer Marshall L. Doney. “While economic growth has stagnated and consumer confidence has fallen Americans will not be Scrooges when it comes to traveling this year.”

Ask an Expert: Get your head INTO the clouds

Q: Steve, I don't know if you can answer this one. Our office needs to update our productivity software. But apparently the question now is, not whether to update our software, but whether to migrate to the cloud. It sounds like a lot of work to me. -- Jaime

A: The cloud, the cloud, the cloud, the cloud. It does seem as if sometimes all we hear about with regard to technology these days is the cloud.

But here's the deal: The cloud is being hyped for a reason. For most small businesses, it really is a better system than storing your data, e-mails, and all the rest on your desktop, laptop, tablet or other device. Here's why:

1. Always-on availability from any device: With the cloud, instead of purchasing software, you purchase a license or subscription to use the software from any device. Unless you take your laptop or tablet with you everywhere, it is easy to have some documents on one computer and other documents on a different computer. That is no way to run a business. Storing everything in the cloud means that you and your team will have access to everything, anytime, anywhere.

2. Access to the the latest updates: Dealing with software updates is an issue we all have – when to update it, and how to balance the need for that against the cost. The good news here is that when you migrate to the cloud (which is easy to do), you will always be using the latest software.

3. Affordability: Again, the cloud wins hands down. As explained to me recently by Cindy Bates, Vice President of Microsoft's SMB Group, "It used to be that in order to have the most advanced technology, small businesses would have to invest in the same expensive hardware as large companies. It was cost-prohibitive, but now with cloud technology, small businesses can pay just for what they use."

Top Heal Care Stocks To Own Right Now

4. Security: In this regard, security means two things, both of which are g! ood:

• First, your data, documents, e-mails, and all other vital business info that you store in the cloud are very secure because they are being hosted on encrypted, world-class servers owned and operated by large corporations with far more resources than you or I have. If, for example, you start to use a service like Microsoft's Office 365 (see below), you can be quite confident that your data will be as secure as possible when housed remotely on their servers.
• Second, because your data will in fact be stored remotely, you do not have to worry about computer crashes, stolen laptops, and the like. Take it from someone who has had chapters of books lost due to hard-drive failures – having your information stored remotely is a smart, secure call.

So yes, updating in the cloud makes sense.

Let me give you an example: After I spoke with Ms. Bates, I was offered the chance to view a demonstration of Microsoft's cloud service, Office 365. As I have long used many desktop Office applications to run my business, and since many of you do as well, I wanted to see how Office in the cloud would work.

It was quite impressive.

At a Microsoft store, Don Crawford of Kamind (a Microsoft IT partner) let me take it for a spin. Aside from accessing all of the programs you know and use (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, One Note, Access, and Publisher), there were all sorts of other cool things to be found in the cloud version of Office:

• The ability to create documents online using a web browser
• Access via all platforms – desktop, laptop, Mac, PC, mobile phone, as well as the ability to sync with offline devices
• Continuous backups
• The capability to share files easily with remote teammates
• Easily able to host and participate in online meetings

The bottom line is that using a cloud-based service like Office 365 makes a whole lot of sense for any small business. You get world-class, powerful t! ools, eas! e of use, and an incredibly affordable price point.

And, as Cindy Bates told me, "The cloud just makes it easier for teams to work together."

Steve Strauss is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship. His column appears Mondays. E-mail Steve at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. An archive of his columns is here. His website is TheSelfEmployed.

Meet the newest Apple supplier play

Congratulations, GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT ) investors, because your company just officially became Apple's (AAPL ) newest supplier.

Naturally, the stock popped more than 20% Tuesday following GT's announcement of the multiyear agreement, under which it will own and operate Advanced Sapphire Furnaces to produce sapphire material for Apple's wildly popular devices.

What's more, Apple is fronting GT Advanced Technologies an advance payment of $578 million to help the smaller company get its operations up and running, for which GT will reimburse Apple over a period of five years beginning 2015. Apple is also leasing GT Advanced Technologies a new 700-employee manufacturing facility in Mesa, Ariz.

A much-needed lifeline...

To be sure, the news couldn't have come at a better time; GT Advanced Technologies simultaneously released its dismal quarterly earnings that day, badly missing expectations thanks primarily to the continued long-standing weakness of its photovoltaic (PV) solar cell business.

For reference, in 2011, PV sales made up more more than 82%, or roughly $740 million, of GT's total revenue of $899 million. When all is said and done this year, taking the midpoint of management's latest guidance, PV should only account for around 10% of GT's projected $305 million in sales. Meanwhile, polysilicon sales will represent around 73% of this year's total, while sapphire should bring in the remaining 17%.

Thanks to the Apple deal, however, GT stated it expects revenue to more than double to a range of $600 to $800 million in 2014, of which 80% should come from the sapphire business.

...but the devil's in the details

Before you get too excited, let's talk about what this deal doesn't mean.

First, note GT's press release explained gross margin from this new sapphire business is expected to be "substantially lower than GT's historical equipment margins." That's fair enough; given GT Advanced Technologies' current weakness, few would argue they made! the wrong move by sacrificing margin in exchange for the long-term stability of the business.

Second, the agreement does not involve sapphire replacing Corning's (NYSE: GLW ) Gorilla Glass as the full-screen protective cover of choice on Apple's iPhones and iPads -- at least over the short term. Still, that's little consolation for Corning investors, who watched Corning stock drop 4.4% on the news.

But as fellow Fool Evan Niu pointed out back in March, sapphire is currently just too darned expensive and difficult to produce for Apple to be able to count on large enough quantities to fulfill demand. In fact, that's why GT management was quick to add the caveat that, while the agreement does require them to maintain a minimum level of capacity, it doesn't guarantee production volumes.

That's also why Apple only took advantage of sapphire's incredible scratch resistant characteristics last year by using it to cover just the tiny camera lens on the iPhone 5. Now, though, Apple is also using sapphire to protect the new Touch ID home buttons in this year's new iPhone 5s.

Meanwhile, Corning certainly hasn't been resting on its laurels. To the contrary, the 162-year-old company recently unveiled Gorilla Glass 3 at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, saying the latest generation is not only 20% thinner than the original, but also up to three times stronger than last year's Gorilla Glass 2. Going further, Corning has continued to relentlessly pursue ways to streamline its own manufacturing processes for Gorilla Glass, which singlehandedly drove sequential sales and earnings gains of 8% and 23%, respectively, in its specialty materials segment last quarter.

There's still hope yet

That said, GT's press release also pointed out it has already "accelerated the development of its next generation, large capacity ASF furnaces to deliver low cost, high volume manufacturing of sapphire material." When all is said and done, GT says, it'll be nicely positioned as "the industry's lowe! st cost s! apphire producers."

However, an MITReview article earlier this year pegged the cost of an average sapphire display cover at roughly $30, while at the same time saying the cost could eventually fall below $20 "in a couple years" thanks to competition and improved technology. Though that estimate likely didn't account for a massive cash infusion from Apple to speed up the process, it still becomes apparent the folks at GTAT have their work cut out for them if they plan on catching up to Corning's value proposition anytime soon.

But don't for a second think GT Advanced Technologies' only opportunity lies in its newfound status as a bona fide Apple supplier. After all, thanks largely to both an expected late-2014 rebound in PV sales and the introduction of several new equipment products in its other segments, GT expects 2015 sales to exceed $1 billion. By 2016, GT thinks sales could "nearly double from 2014 levels" and drive its non-GAAP earnings to over $1 per share, all on the back of continued sapphire segment contributions and incremental strength in equipment revenue.

If all goes as planned, then, and considering the stock currently trades for just under $10 per share, it appears patient long-term GT Advanced Technologies investors could be handsomely rewarded over the next few years.

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

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How a Big Bank Blunder Put Teeth in the Volcker Rule

Federal regulators will vote tomorrow (Tuesday) on the Volcker Rule, and this latest draft includes stricter language than Wall Street had expected...

The Volcker Rule, proposed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, is a central provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act reform law. It would stop banks that receive federally insured deposits from engaging in risky trading practices and force Wall Street banks to end or spin off proprietary trading operations. The goal is to prevent future taxpayer bailouts.

Many pundits expected regulators to finalize a relatively toothless rule, full of vague terminology like "hedging" and "risk" and perverse loopholes that could enable another "London Whale" trade in the future (the famous trade in which JPMorgan lost $6 billion in 2012 on a very risky hedge.)

In fact, the original draft planned to leave a huge loophole that allowed banks to engage in a process called portfolio hedging. This allows banks to enter trades designed to protect against losses held in a broad portfolio of assets.

But on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that a stricter version of the Volcker Rule would prevent portfolio hedging.

It's an important distinction - and one that few saw coming, even the banks who lobbied extensively to prevent a rule against portfolio hedging.

Now Wall Street is upset.

And it's pointing the finger at one firm for undercutting big banks' profits...

Who "Ruined" the Volcker Rule for Wall Street

You see, for a long time, regulators couldn't distinguish the difference between prop trading and more important healthy practices like market making. This made the terminology in the original Volcker Rule vague when regulators attempted to define "hedging."

And someone on Wall Street took hedging strategies too far: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).

Federal Reserve Governor Dan Tarullo said last month that the London Whale provided a wakeup call to regulators and placed a bull's eye on portfolio hedging practices. 

Even though JPMorgan played far less of a role in the mortgage-backed securities meltdown during the 2008-2009 crisis, the company's high-risk proprietary trades would have been banned by the Volcker Rule under the ordinary guise of hedging.

This new ban came as a sharp surprise to Wall Street's leading firms. They have relied on this practice as a loophole in taking significant derivative positions in recent years in the name of "protection."

Now Wall Street firms and their supporters believe the Volcker Rule could have a profound impact on profitability. About $44 billion is earned each year with the help of these trading practices.

A Blast at Bank Baselines

It's unclear how much of the $44 billion per year prop trading would hinder. Multiple reports indicate that pretax profits at the eight largest U.S. banks could get hit by up to $2 billion to $10 billion a year, total.

In order, the four banks that will likely feel the greatest impact are Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). For the most part, Goldman has been very quiet about this announcement.

Banning prop trading and portfolio hedging will certainly affect the global derivatives markets. No longer will banks be able to defend their loan portfolios by purchasing billions, if not trillions, in credit default swaps for the purposes of hedging, even if the positions bet heavily against their own customers.

There are some who argue this could lead to a significant breakup of the banks - but what's more likely is banks will seek new ways to work around the law.

In the financial legal system, where the regulators become the bankers, and the bankers become regulators through the revolving Wall Street-Washington door, Wall Street's top firms will find ways to come out on top, despite the short-term cuts to their profits.

One option is the offshoring of proprietary trading to Hong Kong, Singapore, or other financial locations - but it could possibly lead to greater action by international financial organizations to clamp down on risky trading practices.

The more likely solution for banks is to spin off trading desks, create joint ventures, or establish entirely new organizational legal structures that would take years for regulators to monitor.

Wall Street After the Volcker Rule

Even with the Volcker Rule, regulators still face a steep uphill climb.

The two primary challenges for regulators on the Volcker Rule are still the two biggest challenges for all regulation in the post-crisis era.

First, regulators need to actually enforce capital requirements and trading oversight on the banks. This requires manpower and relies on chief regulators to stay in their respective oversight roles and not accept seven- or eight-figure offers from the very banks they are in charge of monitoring.

The second challenge is to find ways to wind down failing banks without requiring additional taxpayer funds. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew stated U.S. President Barack Obama's intent on continuing this reform in a prepared statement to Congress on Thursday.

"While the process of putting these reforms in place has taken longer than we hoped, much has been done, and much is being completed," Lew said. "As I have said before, this is not about writing a set of rules, and then walking off the field," he added. "This will require ongoing attention - ongoing fact-finding, review, analysis, and action."

The big question for the top four banks is whether the impact of the Volcker Rule has already been priced into their stocks or if shareholders are going to be hit. How much the street blames JPMorgan in the event of a scalping remains to be seen.

When thousands of home equity loans made during the housing bubble turn 10 years old, borrowers, banks, and the overall housing market will face big trouble. It's starting NOW, and it will get worse before it gets better.

Top Safest Companies To Buy For 2014

Billy and I like to share our foreign country medical experiences with our readers because we believe it gives firsthand insight into what goes on. We have been proponents of medical tourism for more than two decades now, and these personal experiences allow you to hear how the service went, if there were problems encountered, and what the pricing is like.

Hopefully, it gives you a clear idea of what it's like to receive medical care in another country.

Regardless of how good one's health is, most people have had dental work. It's not an unfamiliar circumstance, and of all the categories of medical tourism, this one seems to have the safest image.

The beginning
Since we were going to be in Chapala, Mexico, for several months, we decided to have our teeth cleaned and checked out.

Because this isn't one of my favorite things to do and I have had trouble with my teeth all my life, I can be a bit resistant to actually going to a dentist to begin with. I keep meaning to do it, but, well, there are so many other things I would prefer to do. And the dentist I had been using for cleaning was in a town a few bus stops away -- and the long and short of it is was I never got it together.

Top Safest Companies To Buy For 2014: Goldman Sachs Group Inc.(The)

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

Top Safest Companies To Buy For 2014: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras(PBR)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe and Aimee Duffy]

  Brazil's oil production numbers are up, but the 3.8% jump in April over the previous month doesn't sound as pretty when compared to year-over-year production, which is still down 4.9%. With Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) bringing several of its aging offshore rigs back on line after maintenance, the renaissance of Brazil's oil business will not be found in its production numbers... not yet.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  That makes Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) one of the best pure-play stocks to buy if you want to invest in the growth of oil production. The company is investing heavily to explore and develop these massive oil fields with a goal to produce 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2016. But it's not the only company operating offshore: Seadrill (NYSE: SDRL  ) is another potential stock play here. One of the interesting things it's doing is looking at spinning off part its Brazilian business. This will help the company navigate the country's regulations while retaining upside as offshore oil production grows. It will also help the company to continue producing income to keep its top-tier dividend flowing back to investors.�

• [By Taylor Muckerman]

  All 1.4 million cars that were sold between January and May have to fuel up somehow, and that is where Brazilian powerhouse Petrobras (NYSE: PBR  ) comes in to the picture. As the largest energy company in the country, Petrobras' gasoline sales would�presumably�follow a similar growth trajectory as auto sales once the retirement of old vehicles is taken into consideration. If the gap between international fuel prices is allowed to be closed ��the recent diesel price hike in March assisted with this ��then revenue from the company's downstream could really take off.

• [By Todd Shriber, ETF Professor]

  That may not be a direct bearish call on Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), Brazil's state-owned oil giant, but it was less than a year ago at the Ira Sohn Conference that Chanos called Petrobras and Vale (NYSE: VALE), the world's largest iron ore producer two of his favorite shorts.

Top 5 Safest Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Under Armour Inc.(UA)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sara Murphy]

  On the flip side, Under Armour (NYSE: UA  ) enjoyed elevated retail inventory levels for the 2011-2012 winter due to "the impact of unseasonably warm weather," accounting for about 2 percentage points�of growth coming out of the fourth quarter 2011 into 2012.

Top Safest Companies To Buy For 2014: Fluor Corporation(FLR)

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

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Fluor Corporation (FLR) is one of the world�� leading heavy construction and engineering firms. I don’t want to imply that this is a bad company because it is actually a very good one. However, Fluor has divisions including Oil & Gas, Industrial Infrastructure, Government, Global Services and Power. Virtually all of them are seeing limited spending as a result of the global slowdown and reduced government spending around the world. The stock is up more than 23% this year, but earnings are actually down on flat revenues. Analysts have been lowering their estimates for the rest of this year as well as 2014, and the stock is currently rated as a by Portfolio Grader. When the economy recovers, I expect will see this company’s fundamentals improve substantially … but until that happens investors should avoid the stock.

• [By Louis Navellier]

  If we look at the sector using Portfolio Grader, we see that many of the big names in the group like Flour (FLR), Granite Construction (GVA) and KBR incorporated (KBR) are rated ��ell.��The anticipated spending for both government and private industry simply hasn�� materialized, and the companies are not seeing revenue or profit growth.

• [By CRWE]

  Fluor Corporation�� (NYSE:FLR) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David Seaton, and Chief Financial Officer, Biggs Porter, will give a presentation to investors at the Credit Suisse 2012 Engineering & Construction Conference in New York on Thursday, June 7 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

3M Co Upgraded to “Buy” at Nomura (MMM)

Nomura Securities upgraded 3M Co (MMM) to “Buy” from “Neutral” before the opening bell on Wednesday, and raised the company’s price target.

Nomura boosted 3M’s price target to $150 from $128, suggesting an 18% upside to the stock’s current share price. Nomura had the following justification for its upgrade and PT raise: “Organic growth is accelerating, capital allocation is turning positive, and margins may even have room to rise a bit, all suggesting to us that EPS growth could surprise to the upside versus current consensus estimates for 2014 and 2015,” analyst Shannon O’Callaghan states. “We expect all of that to benefit 3M's P/E, driving a potentially expanded and sustained higher multiple for 3M under the current Thulin/Meline management team.”

Looking ahead, Nomura sees 3M’s FY2013 EPS coming in at $6.75 and FY2014 EPS coming in at $7.50.

3M shares were down a fraction in pre-market trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up 34.57%.

7 fastest-growing jobs in America

Early in November, CareerBuilder, the largest online employment website in the United States, published its report "America's Job Outlook: Occupational Projections 2013-2017" and helped forecast the nation's fastest growing occupations from the years 2013 to 2017. From its findings, the company found that job growth in the U.S. is expected to grow at a slightly faster rate than in the post-recession years, and for certain occupations and metropolitan areas, the outlook is even more optimistic than others.

Career Builder and Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) explored projections over a five-year period by occupation, wage group, and education for the US and the 52 largest metropolitan areas, and from their research, the groups uncovered the top occupations over the 2013-2017 time period, while also highlighting the urban areas that best support this job growth. After determining that the U.S. workforce is expected to grow 4.4% from 2013 to 2017, Career Builder found that occupations requiring college degrees are growing significantly faster than those that do not.

Here are the top 7 jobs that Career Builder highlighted as the fastest growing. Of the 785 occupations investigated for its report, the company found that 329 of them are projected to grow 5% or more from 2013 to 2017.

1. Personal Care Aides

Last, but not least, is a profession similar to No. 2 on the list: personal care aids. These employees might not visit patients' homes daily like the home health aids do, but they still help meet patients' personal care needs. Together, personal care aids and home health aides are projected to add nearly a half million jobs through 2017, and they are gaining significance as the population ages and more assistance is needed. The average personal care aid makes around $9.77 an hour, and about 1,334,313 workers currently hold the position. That number will increase to 1,608,211 by 2017, reflecting a 21% change.

2. Home Health Aides

Coming up with the No. 2 di! stinction is a home health aide, or someone who visits the home of a disabled, chronically ill, or elderly patient who requires extra assistance. The number of jobs in this low-paying field is increasing exponentially and is expected to grow 21 percent by 2017, but the average worker in such a profession still only makes $9.97 an hour. There are currently 950,273 home health aides in the U.S., but by 2017, they are expected to total over 1 million, standing around 1,150,340.

3. Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

Switching gears, market research analysts and marketing specialists are next. Making around $29.10 an hour, these employees, often referred to as consultants, are expected to increase significantly in number by 2017 as more businesses and investors employ their expertise and market knowledge. There are currently around 438,851 positions in the U.S. for market research analysts and marketing specialists, but 60,889 jobs will be added within five years, eventually totaling 499,740.

4. Medical Secretaries

Staying in the medical field, we come to medical secretaries for the No. 4 spot. This increasingly important occupation is expected to experience a 14% growth by 2017, as 76,386 more jobs in the position are added. There are currently 537,064 medical secretaries in the U.S., but by 2017, there will be around 613,450. These workers generally make around $15.17 an hour, reflecting another healthcare occupation in the medium-wage category.

5. Emergency Medical Techs & Paramedics

We come to an entirely differently field for the No. 5 spot, and it is in the healthcare division that emergency medical techs and paramedics fall. This healthcare occupation also falls within the medium-wage category, which is a segment that is expected to grow significantly over the upcoming years, and where workers generally make around $15.28 an hour. The number of positions available in the field is projected to increase 13% by 2017, from 238,658 jobs to 268,892. B! ut, remem! ber — workers have to like blood.

6. Software Developers, Systems Software

Also making Career Builder's list is a similar position: software developers for systems software, another division of the technology sphere. These developers make a slightly higher wage than their neighbors on the list, coming in at $47.64 an hour, but the number of jobs available for such a division is expected to grow 11% from 2013 to 2017, adding 48,291 positions. The number of software developing jobs for the systems software division currently stands around 420,109, while that number is expected to increase to 468,400 by 2017.

7. Software Developers, Applications

The seventh-fastest growing occupation projected for the 5-year period comes from an increasingly popular and lucrative field: software development. The number of software developing jobs in the applications sphere is expected to grow 11% from 2013 to 2017 in the U.S., and increase by 61,758 positions. At the time of Career Builder's research, there were currently 626,262 jobs in this profitable line of the work, and that number is projected to total 688,020 by 2017.

It's of little surprise that occupations in information and computer technology top the job growth list, as this kind of technology is one of the fastest growing and highly anticipated sectors in the United States. Still, careers in software development usually require a a significant amount of schooling and experience before one can secure such an opportunity, and the average hourly earning of a software developer is $43.34.

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Wall St. Cheat Sheet is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

Small Cap Obesity Stock EnteroMedics Inc (ETRM) Soars: Now What? ARNA, OREX & VVUS

On Tuesday, small cap EnteroMedics Inc (NASDAQ: ETRM) soared 63.5% after reporting new clinical trial data for its Maestro system that is designed to control obesity, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock along with the performance of other small cap obesity drug or treatment players like Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ARNA), Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: OREX) and VIVUS, Inc (NASDAQ: VVUS).

What is EnteroMedics Inc?

Samll cap EnteroMedics Inc has developed the VBLOC® vagal blocking therapy as a weight loss treatment for obesity and related co-morbidities. More specifically, the VBLOC Therapy is intended to address the lifelong challenge of obesity through the use of a pacemaker-like device called the Maestro® Rechargeable System that is designed to control both hunger and fullness by blocking the primary nerve which regulates the digestive system.

What You Need to Know or Be Warned About EnteroMedics Inc

Yesterday, EnteroMedics Inc reported that patients on its Maestro RC system lost 25% of their excess weight, or 10% of their total body weight, after 18 months while patients who received a sham implant lost 12% of their excess weight, or 4% of their total weight. The system is already approved in Europe and Australia, but its not yet approved in the US. 

However, investors should be aware that EnteroMedics Inc said back in September that the FDA was asking additional questions about the Maestro Rechargeable System and that regulators wanted more information about device testing and clinical data, including training programs for users and a study of the device after it is approved. The company was expecting a FDA panel to review the Maestro system late in the fourth quarter or early in the first quarter, then make a decision in the first half of 2014.

Moreover, EnteroMedics sank from the $3 level all the way down to below the $1 level after reporting disappointing clinical trial results when it said that patients who were implanted with the Maestro device lost more weight than patients who received a placebo device, but the weight loss totals were not as good as had been hoped for.

Otherwise and as far as financials go, it should be noted that EnteroMedics Inc has reported revenues of $311k (2012) and nothing for the three years before that along with net losses of $23.46M (2012), $26.00M (2011), $17.35M (2010) and $31.93M (2009) for the past four years. There have also been no revenues this year and net losses of $6.30M (2013-09-30), $6.32M (2013-06-30) and $6.58M (2013-03-31) plus the company had around $21.14M in cash to cover $8.43M worth of current liabilities and $3.83M in long term debt at the end of the last quarter. So the company is not endanger of running out of money soon.

Share Performance: EnteroMedics Inc vs. ARNA, ETRM & OREX

On Tuesday, small cap EnteroMedics Inc soared 63.5% to $2.24 (ETRM has a 52 week trading range of $0.81 to $3.23 a share) for a market cap of $135.96 million plus the stock is down 20% since the start of the year and down 77.4% over the past five years. Here is a look at the long term performance of EnteroMedics Inc verses that of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics and VIVUS, Inc:

As you can see from the above chart, the performance of EnteroMedics Inc has helped the portfolios of investors to loose more weight but the performance of the other small cap obesity drug or treatment stocks has not exactly been great either.

5 Best Small Cap Stocks To Own For 2014

The Bottom Line. The latest news puts investors in small cap obesity treatment stock EnteroMedics Inc near where they started the year at but still far off from where they stood five years ago and below the performance of Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics and VIVUS, Inc. So the real test will come if there is FDA approval for the Maestro system.