Hostess Bankruptcy Exposes Peril to 10 Million U.S. Pensions

Top Energy Companies To Own For 2014

Associated Press/Brennan Linsley When Hostess Brands went bankrupt in 2012, it triggered anxiety among employees at Ottenberg's Bakery, a family-owned enterprise in Maryland. The companies shared a pension plan, and if Hostess couldn't pay its retirees, Ottenberg's would have to pick up the tab. Gary League, 53, who has delivered Ottenberg's bread for almost three decades, worried he might lose his nest egg, maybe even his job. "If you have all these guys out on retirement and you only have Ottenberg's paying into it, the math doesn't add up," he said. "I was thinking I would have to work forever." Last week, he got the good news -- the U.S. government saved his benefits by sacrificing those of Hostess' drivers, who will now get a reduced payout financed by the government. League is one of 10.4 million Americans with retirements tied to multiemployer pension plans, large investment pools long considered low risk because they don't rely on a single company for financing. Two recessions, industry consolidation prompted by deregulation and an aging workforce have funds facing a $400 billion shortfall that has some near insolvency. Dozens already have failed, affecting 94,000 participants. Things are dire enough that a coalition of employers and labor unions is asking Congress for permission to cut benefits to retired truck drivers, miners and others as a last resort in order to prevent plans from going under. The proposal has divided unions and their allies, triggering a lobbying battle as a legislative deadline approaches and retirement security looms large as a growing economic concern. $2 Billion LIability Leads to Plan Being Carved up Hostess, maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, was one of two employers contributing to the Bakery and Sales Drivers Local 33 Pension Fund. When Hostess went bankrupt, Ottenberg's was left to foot the bill. President Ray Ottenberg didn't respond to requests for comment. Hostess had about $2 billion in liability to its multiemployer plans. Because of the bankruptcy, those pensions will get nothing from the company, said David Rush, chief financial officer of the Hostess estate, known as Old HB. "You have to repay your secured creditors first," he said. "It was an unfortunate situation." The Obama administration acted last month, taking 342 Hostess truck drivers out of the plan to rescue benefits for League and about 360 others. It was the third time in its 40-year history that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. had carved up a fund. The PBGC engineered a merger of Ottenberg pensions into another plan. Since 2005, the agency has paid about $722 million to people in similar failed plans. A coalition of 40 labor and employer groups, including Bechtel Group, United Parcel Service (UPS) and -- at the time -- the International Brotherhood of Teamsters last year said pension trustees should be allowed to cut benefits to current retirees. The once-unthinkable idea is now gaining support as funds falter and unemployment, student debt and longer life spans leave people less financially prepared for retirement. "It's the first attempt by an industry or a sector of the economy to really address what's going to come back and bite us as a country," said Randy DeFrehn, executive director of the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans in Washington and an author of its "Solutions Not Bailouts" report. "If you allow some of these plans to have flexibility, they can take action instead of waiting until the assets are depleted." Slippery Slope for Plans, Federal Agency Others disagree. Giving pensions that option would make the problem worse, and not just for retirees, said Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist at the New School for Social Research in New York. Multiemployer payments are low and concentrated in economically distressed regions, including the industrial Midwest, she said. Once some pensions get the flexibility to cut benefits, others will want it, too, she said. It's a slippery slope that could lead to changes at single-employer pensions, which have 30.4 million participants. "It's bad for households, but it's also bad for the economy," Ghilarducci said. "In some of these communities, it's the retirees that are the mainstay." The PBGC, created in 1974, is on uneasy financial footing itself. The agency charges companies in multiemployer plans an annual insurance premium of $12 per plan participant, less than one-fourth of what other pension plans pay. The agency projects 173 multiemployer plans will exhaust assets, costing it an estimated $10 billion and leading to the insurance program's insolvency in 10 to 15 years. The agency is asking Congress for an increase in insurance premiums and more ability to intervene before funds are insolvent. Although the Hostess partition will cost the agency an estimated $22.5 million, it could ultimately save money because the entire pension plan likely would have failed without it, PBGC Director Joshua Gotbaum said. The agency partitioned its first pension in 1983 to save benefits for restaurant workers and manufacturers in and around Detroit. In 2010, it split a Chicago plan, protecting 3,700 truckers and putting 1,500 on government payouts. Now it's weighing carving up a second Hostess-related fund. "After we announced the Hostess partition we got calls from folks in other plans saying what about us?" Gotbaum said. "If we had a lot more money, we could do a lot more plans." Support for 'Solutions Not Bailouts' The nation's second-largest multiemployer fund, the Central States Southeast and Southwest Areas Health and Welfare Pension Funds, is also among the most troubled, with five retirees for every active employee. Covering 410,000 truck drivers, sanitation workers and others, the Teamsters plan paid out $2.1 billion more than it took in in 2012, with the average retiree receiving $15,000. In 2006, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act, giving funds such as Central States temporary leeway to cope with shortfalls. The law expires at the end of this year, and congressional lawmakers have no plans to renew it. Central States is one reason unions, including the Teamsters, lined up behind "Solutions Not Bailouts" last year. James P. Hoffa, then Teamsters president started hearing from his rank-and-file. He retreated in October, calling the proposal he helped craft a "mad rush to destroy what little semblance of retirement security exists in this country." "This issue is about basic economic fairness," Hoffa wrote in an Oct. 28 letter to House lawmakers. He called on labor unions to "ensure that the right to a dignified retirement remains sacrosanct." Hoffa spokesman Galen Munroe declined requests for comment. Cutting retirement income would be "a ticket to poverty," for some, said Bruce Olsson, a lobbyist with the International Association of Machinists, which has aligned with the Teamsters. "It puts the burden on people that are the most vulnerable. Retirees don't have the ability to make up that lost income." The last time Congress tried to rescue unfunded pensions, the move was attacked as a union bailout and failed, said former Representative Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat who now advises the employer-labor coalition. Absent congressional action, more companies will abandon their obligations and leave retirees dependent on government aid, he said."You've got the hole getting bigger and bigger," Pomeroy said. "A haircut now beats a beheading later." Trustees at distressed funds can do only so much because the law dictates what benefits they can and can't cut. Had they been able to reduce accruals to retirees, they may have been able to save the Millwrights & Machinery Erectors Local Union No. 1545 Pension Fund. Stories of Two Men With Lower Benefits Peter Scarmozzi, a retired millwright living in Bear, Del., is among those willing to sacrifice. Scarmozzi, 66, is one of 179,000 participants in the millwrights' fund, about half of whom are retired. While the plan had suffered shortfalls before 2008, after the financial collapse, trustees calculated it would cost $23 per hour worked to restore it to health, up from less than $15. Some employers, including General Electric Co., want out and are now in court. "For 10 years we petitioned the trustees to cut the benefits back so the fund would survive," Scarmozzi said. "Now, it's going to fail." Kent Cprek, a lawyer for the Local 1545 fund, said trustees reduced what benefits the law allowed. Pension payments to existing retirees are off limits. "You're not allowed to cut every benefit," said Cprek, a shareholder at Jennings Sigmond in Philadelphia. Sacrificing part of Scarmozzi's pension a decade ago may have helped him and preserved benefits for younger millwrights today, including Thomas Hall, 55. Hall, who has installed turbines, generators and other large equipment for 33 years, began preparing for the worst in 2008. He and his wife cut spending and abandoned work on their unfinished house in North East, Md. Now the millwright fund could be insolvent as soon as next month, Scarmozzi said, and his $3,600 monthly pension will be replaced by an $800 check from the PBGC. "If I could find a part-time job, I'd take it," Scarmozzi said. "There's no golden years -- that stuff's gone." Hall said he will get $980 a month from the agency instead of his $4,000 pension. He's accrued another $226 so far from a separate fund he joined four years ago. "How healthy will that pension fund I'm contributing to now be in 10 years?" Hall said. "I'm stuck in a bad storm."

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Hot New Stocks To Own Right Now: Osage Exploration and Development Inc (OEDV)

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. (Osage) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves and production in the country of Colombia and the state of Oklahoma. The Company�� pipeline is located in Colombia. The Companys focuses on developing its 28,000-acre Horizontal Mississippian block along the Nemaha Ridge in Logan County, Oklahoma, with their partners Slawson Exploration, and U.S. Energy Development Corp. The Company generates oil sales from its production operations in Colombia and in the state of Oklahoma and pipeline revenues from its Cimarrona property in Colombia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two salt water disposal wells and commenced drilling the Wolfe#1-29H, the Company�� horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. In January 2012, the Company began drilling the Krittenbrink 2-36H, the Company�� second well in Logan County.

The Company�� subsidiary, Cimarrona LLC, owns a 9.4% interest in certain oil and gas assets in the Guaduas field, located in the Dindal and Rio Seco Blocks that consist of 21 wells, of which seven are producing, that covers 30,665-acres in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia, as well as a pipeline with a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cimarrona property, but not the pipeline, is subject to an Ecopetrol Association Contract (the Association Contract) whereby the Company pays Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) royalties of 20% of the oil produced.

The Company has acquired oil and gas leases in Logan County, Oklahoma targeting the Mississippian formation. The Mississippian formation is located on the Anadarko Shelf in northern Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. The top of this expansive carbonate hydrocarbon system is encountered between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and lies stratigraphically between the Pennsylvanian-aged Morrow Sand and the Devonian-aged Woodford Shale formations. The Mississippian formation reach 600 feet in gross thickness a! nd the targeted porosity zone is between 50 and 300 feet in thickness. The Company owns 100% of the working interest in certain producing oil and natural gas leases located in Osage County, Oklahoma (Hopper Property). The Property consists of 23 wells, 10 of which are producing wells, on 480 acres.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+6.78%) up +0.08 at $1.26 with 39,220 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 11:56AM EDT August 22, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2013 and provided an update on field operations. For the quarter, the Company reported a 75.8% increase in revenues of $2.4 million compared to the same period in 2012, and operating income of $1.2 million versus a loss of $274,563 for the period ending June 30, 2012.

  Osage participated in drilling ten wells during the second quarter, bringing the total number of wells in which Osage has an interest to twenty-nine as of June 30, 2013. Additionally, the Company reported average daily production roughly in-line with first quarter production.

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OEDV surged (+1.96%) up +0.03 at $1.56 with 178,129 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 12:28PM EDT August 30, 2013).

  Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. previously reported preliminary production results on the Mallard 1-16H Horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. The well, located in Section 16-17N-3W, achieved a 24-hour peak initial production rate of 705 barrels of oil plus associated natural gas on an electric submersible pump and a 48/64��choke.

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New Energy Technologies, Inc., incorporated on May 5, 1998, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in renewable and alternative energy business. The Company conducts its operations through two wholly owned subsidiaries: Kinetic Energy Corporation (KEC), Sungen Energy, Inc. and New Energy Solar Corporation (New Energy Solar). The Company focuses on the development of two technologies: MotionPower Technology for capturing the kinetic energy of moving vehicles to generate electricity, and SolarWindow Technology, which enables see-through glass windows to generate electricity by spraying glass surfaces with its electricity-generating coatings to their glass surface. It has filed 10 patent applications for inventions related to its MotionPower Technology and one for its SolarWindow Technology. As of June 21, 2012, it had no commercial products. As of June 21, 2012, the Company had no revenues.

SolarWindow

The Company�� SolarWindow products in development are designed to generate electricity on glass while remaining see-through. It has six product development goals for its SolarWindow technology: SolarWindow - Commercial, which is a flat glass product for installation in new commercial towers under construction and replacement windows; SolarWindow - Structural Glass, which is a structural glass walls and curtains for tall structures; SolarWindow - Architectural Glass, which is a textured and decorative interior glass walls and room dividers; SolarWindow - Residential, which is a window glass for installation in residential homes under construction and replacement windows; SolarWindow - Flex , which is a film which may be applied directly onto glass, similar to aftermarket window tint films, for retrofit to existing commercial towers, buildings, and residential homes; and SolarWindow - BIPV, which is a building product components associated with building-integrated-photovoltaic (BIPV) applications in h omes, buildings, and office towers.

MotionPowe! r!

MotionPower products are designed to generate electricity from the capture and conversion of available kinetic energy into electricity, which is present in vehicles which are slowing down before stopping. It is developing three MotionPower products: MotionPower - Heavy, which is a fluid-driven, system with limited moving mechanical components for installation at sites where big rigs, such as tractor trailers, buses, and commercial vehicles are traveling at below 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down; MotionPower - Auto, which is a fluid-driven, system similar to MotionPower - Heavy for installation at sites where cars and light-duty trucks, such as sport utility vehicles and automobiles, are traveling at below 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down; and MotionPower - Express, which is a mechanical system for installation at sites where all cars, light-duty trucks, motor homes, buses, big rigs, and commercial vehicles are tra veling faster than 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down.

The Company competes with Konarka Technologies, Inc., XsunX, Inc. and Sharp Corporation.

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Suzlon Energy Limited (SEL) is an India-based wind power company. The Company along with its subsidiaries is in the business of selling and installing wind turbine generators (WTGs). It is engaged in the manufacture of wind turbine generators of various capacities and its components. Its operations relate sale of WTGs and allied activities including sale/sub-lease of land, infrastructure development income; sale of gear boxes, and sale of foundry and forging components. Others primarily include power generation operations. The Company�� subsidiaries include Suzlon Towers and Structures Limited, Suzlon Power Infrastructure Limited, Suzlon Infrastructure Services Limited, Suzlon Gujarat Wind Park Limited, Suzlon Structure Limited, SE Forge Limited, SE Composites Limited, Suzlon Wind International Limited, SE Electricals Limited, Suzlon Rotor Corporation, AE Rotor Holding B.V. and Suzlon Energy A/S.

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WaterFurnace Renewable Energy, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture and distribution of geothermal and water-source systems. It�� the United States subsidiary companies are WaterFurnace International, Inc. (WaterFurnace) and LoopMaster International, Inc. (LoopMaster). In December 2010, it incorporated two Australian subsidiaries: WaterFurnace International Asia Pacific Pty. Ltd. (WaterFurnace Asia Pacific) and Hyper WFI Pty. Ltd. (Hyper WFI). WaterFurnace designs, manufactures and distributes geothermal water source heating and cooling systems for residential, commercial and institutional buildings. LoopMaster installs geothermal loops for residential applications, does commercial conductivity testing and provides design and installation assistance. Hyper WFI designs, develops and builds devices that limit the inrush current, which electric motors draw upon start up. On January 21, 2011, the Company acquired inventory and fixed assets from Binary Engineering Pty. Ltd.

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First Power and Light, Inc. (FPL), formerly Mainstream Entertainment, Inc., incorporated on June 24, 2008, is a full service solar installation company. The Company is engaged in the financing, design, installation and maintenance of small to large scale solar installations. The Company�� services include residential, commercial and solar farms.

As of July 22, 2013, the Company has completed over 400 commercial, Federal Government and residential installations. The Company has developed software. Its monitoring software provides both the Company and its customers with a view of their energy generation, consumption and carbon offset through an application available on smart-phones and any device with a Web browser.

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EcoloCap Solutions Inc. (EcoloCap), incorporated on March 18, 2004, is a development stage company. The Company is an integrated network of environmentally focused technology companies that design, develop, manufacture and sell cleaner alternative energy products.

The Company through its subsidiary Micro Bubble Technologies Inc. (MBT), developed and manufactures M-Fuel. The Company also developed the Carbon Nano Tube Battery (CNT-Battery), and the Nano Li- Battery both recyclable, rechargeable batteries. MBT has also developed a process that blends non-miscible liquids (oil and water) on a submicron level in order to create a non-emulsified fuel product that it calls EM-Fuel.

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EcoloCap Solutions Inc. (EcoloCap), incorporated on March 18, 2004, is a development stage company. The Company is an integrated network of environmentally focused technology companies that design, develop, manufacture and sell cleaner alternative energy products.

The Company through its subsidiary Micro Bubble Technologies Inc. (MBT), developed and manufactures M-Fuel. The Company also developed the Carbon Nano Tube Battery (CNT-Battery), and the Nano Li- Battery both recyclable, rechargeable batteries. MBT has also developed a process that blends non-miscible liquids (oil and water) on a submicron level in order to create a non-emulsified fuel product that it calls EM-Fuel.

Hot New Stocks To Own Right Now: OriginOil Inc (OOIL)

OriginOil, Inc., incorporated on June 1, 2007, is a technology company. The Company is primarily involved in research and development activities, and sales of pilot and demonstration equipment. The Company has developed an energy production process for harvesting algae and cleaning up oil and gas water. To develop the energy and ancillary markets, the Company sells smaller-scale equipment, such as the Algae Appliance. The Company�� process, CLEAN-FRAC, represents a generation of water treatment that is chemical free. The Company's water cleanup technology, Electro Water Separation (EWS), is a chemical-free process that extracts organic contaminants from large quantities of water. Its products include EWS Algae, EWS Algae A4, EWS Algae A60, EWS Algae A200, EWS Petro P160, and EWS Aqua Q60.

The Company intends to embed its technology into larger systems through licensing and joint ventures. The Company is in the process of pursuing secondary licensing opportunities outside of energy, including aquaculture. EWS Algae A4 is an entry-level algae harvester designed to make it easier and faster for producers and researchers to try and buy the Company's harvesting technology. EWS Algae A60 is a pilot scale algae harvester providing a low energy, chemical-free, continuous flow wet harvest system to dewater and concentrate the microalgae. EWS Petro Model 160 is designed to remove organics, such as crude oil, and suspended solids and bacteria from process water, such as produced or frac flowback water at a continuous flow rate of one barrel per minute or 160 liters per minute in continuous, chemical free operation. EWS Aqua Q60 is a commercial fish farming pond water treatment system, designed to clean pond water of ammonia, bacteria and aquatic animal pathogens in a continuous loop.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Today, OOIL�has shed (-3.12%) down -0.01 at $.31 with 95,929 shares in play thus far (ref. google finance Delayed: 2:04PM�EDT October 15, 2013).

  OriginOil, Inc. previously reported it has signed its first pay-per-barrel agreement with Industrial Systems, Inc. (ISI) for a water treatment system integrating OriginOil�� process as the first stage of treatment.

  Delta, Colorado-based ISI has agreed that it will operate the Model P160 as part of its overall frac flowback water cleanup service, and pay OriginOil a fee for each barrel processed.

Hot New Stocks To Own Right Now: Osage Exploration and Development Inc (OEDV.PK)

Osage Exploration and Development, Inc. (Osage) is an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with reserves and production in the country of Colombia and the state of Oklahoma. The Company�� pipeline is located in Colombia. The Companys focuses on developing its 28,000-acre Horizontal Mississippian block along the Nemaha Ridge in Logan County, Oklahoma, with their partners Slawson Exploration, and U.S. Energy Development Corp. The Company generates oil sales from its production operations in Colombia and in the state of Oklahoma and pipeline revenues from its Cimarrona property in Colombia. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company drilled two salt water disposal wells and commenced drilling the Wolfe#1-29H, the Company�� horizontal Mississippian well in Logan County, Oklahoma. In January 2012, the Company began drilling the Krittenbrink 2-36H, the Company�� second well in Logan County.

The Company�� subsidiary, Cimarrona L LC, owns a 9.4% interest in certain oil and gas assets in the Guaduas field, located in the Dindal and Rio Seco Blocks that consist of 21 wells, of which seven are producing, that covers 30,665-acres in the Middle Magdalena Valley in Colombia, as well as a pipeline with a capacity of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day. The Cimarrona property, but not the pipeline, is subject to an Ecopetrol Association Contract (the Association Contract) whereby the Company pays Ecopetrol S.A. (Ecopetrol) royalties of 20% of the oil produced.

The Company has acquired oil and gas leases in Logan County, Oklahoma targeting the Mississippian formation. The Mississippian formation is located on the Anadarko Shelf in northern Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. The top of this expansive carbonate hydrocarbon system is encountered between 4,000 and 6,000 feet and lies stratigraphically between the Pennsylvanian-aged Morrow Sand and the Devonian-aged Woodford Shale formations. The Mississippian formation reach 600 feet in gross thickne! s! s and the targeted porosity zone is between 50 and 300 feet in thickness. The Company owns 100% of the working interest in certain producing oil and natural gas leases located in Osage County, Oklahoma (Hopper Property). The Property consists of 23 wells, 10 of which are producing wells, on 480 acres.

Hot New Stocks To Own Right Now: New Energy Technologies Inc (NENE)

New Energy Technologies, Inc., incorporated on May 5, 1998, is a development-stage company. The Company is engaged in renewable and alternative energy business. The Company conducts its operations through two wholly owned subsidiaries: Kinetic Energy Corporation (KEC), Sungen Energy, Inc. and New Energy Solar Corporation (New Energy Solar). The Company focuses on the development of two technologies: MotionPower Technology for capturing the kinetic energy of moving vehicles to generate electricity, and SolarWindow Technology, which enables see-through glass windows to generate electricity by spraying glass surfaces with its electricity-generating coatings to their glass surface. It has filed 10 patent applications for inventions related to its MotionPower Technology and one for its SolarWindow Technology. As of June 21, 2012, it had no commercial products. As of June 21, 2012, the Company had no revenues.

SolarWindow

The Company�� SolarWindow products in development are designed to generate electricity on glass while remaining see-through. It has six product development goals for its SolarWindow technology: SolarWindow - Commercial, which is a flat glass product for installation in new commercial towers under construction and replacement windows; SolarWindow - Structural Glass, which is a structural glass walls and curtains for tall structures; SolarWindow - Architectural Glass, which is a textured and decorative interior glass walls and room dividers; SolarWindow - Residential, which is a window glass for installation in residential homes under construction and replacement windows; SolarWindow - Flex , which is a film which may be applied directly onto glass, similar to aftermarket window tint films, for retrofit to existing commercial towers, buildings, and residential homes; and SolarWindow - BIPV, which is a building product components associated with building-integrated-photovoltaic (BIPV) applications in homes, buildings, and office towers.

MotionPower

MotionPower products are designed to generate electricity from the capture and conversion of available kinetic energy into electricity, which is present in vehicles which are slowing down before stopping. It is developing three MotionPower products: MotionPower - Heavy, which is a fluid-driven, system with limited moving mechanical components for installation at sites where big rigs, such as tractor trailers, buses, and commercial vehicles are traveling at below 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down; MotionPower - Auto, which is a fluid-driven, system similar to MotionPower - Heavy for installation at sites where cars and light-duty trucks, such as sport utility vehicles and automobiles, are traveling at below 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down; and MotionPower - Express, which is a mechanical system for installation at sites where all cars, light-duty trucks, motor homes, buses, big rigs, and commercial vehicles are traveling faster than 15 miles per hour and are in the process of slowing down.

The Company competes with Konarka Technologies, Inc., XsunX, Inc. and Sharp Corporation.

Housing Starts Fall in December, but Less Than Expected

Nam Y. Huh/AP WASHINGTON -- U.S. housing starts fell less than expected in December, pausing after recent strong gains that had propelled home building activity to multi-year highs. The Commerce Department said Friday groundbreaking dropped 9.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000-unit pace. It was the largest percentage decline since April. Economists polled by Reuters had expected starts to fall to a 990,000-unit rate in December. For all of 2013, starts increased 18.3 percent to an average of 923,400-units. Groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, fell 7 percent to a 667,000-unit pace in December. Starts for the volatile multifamily homes segment declined 14.9 percent to a 332,000-unit rate. Starts in the Midwest tumbled 33.5 percent, suggesting cold weather might have weighed on home building in the region last month. While frigid weather probably dampened activity, some of the slowdown last month was also payback after November's eye-catching gains. Permits in November had increased 23.1 percent and crossed the 1-million unit mark. That was the highest level since early 2008. Residential construction has been on the rise after a brief lull last year in the wake of a run-up in mortgage rates. Increasing household formation and a tight supply of houses has been boosting homebuilding, which in turn is supporting the labor market. Permits to build homes fell 3 percent in December to a 986,000-unit pace. It was the second straight month of declines. They were weighed down by a 4.8 percent drop in permits for single-family homes. Multifamily sector permits were flat. For all of 2013, permits increased 17.5 percent to an average of 974,700-units.

Will Comcast, Time Warner Make Broadband Connection?

In any state where the infrastructure is designed to support a competitive, market-based economy a potential deal between the No. 1 and the No. 2 participants in a given industry will be subject, properly, to intense scrutiny.

And so will be the proposed $45.2 billion engagement of Comcast Corp (NSDQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE: TWC) before they can be joined as one.

During a Feb. 13, 2014, conference call with analysts and members of the media to discuss his company's latest audacious move, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen noted that customers' interests will be advanced via "quality of service, by quality of offerings, by technological innovations" achievable by a combination with Time Warner Cable.

Mr. Cohen's statement is part of Comcast's effort to define the terms of the regulatory review process. Ultimately it will come down to two questions, whether Comcast and Time Warner can demonstrate that the deal is in the public interest and whether the government show, convincingly, that it will harm competition.

The first issue will be reviewed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the second by either the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or the US Dept of Justice (DoJ). Congress could get involved as well.

The FCC will be involved in the review process because Time Warner Cable would have to transfer Cable Television Relay Service licenses and telephone service licenses to Comcast.

In this respect the FCC is actually the adjudicator. The FCC will determine whether the transfer of the licenses serves the public interest. The burden will be on Comcast and Time Warner Cable to show sufficient benefits to offset any potential harms to the public interest.

The FTC shares antitrust review authority with the DoJ. To block the transaction the FTC or the DoJ would have to sue in federal court. And one or the other would have the burden proof un! der a traditional antitrust analysis to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that there's a substantial likelihood that the transaction would reduce competition in some relevant market.

In attempting to define the market Comcast has placed its focus on the multichannel video programming distribution (MVPD) market, noting that the acquisition of Time Warner Cable would bring Comcast from 22 million to 30 million subscribers, or less than 30 percent of the nationwide total.

Comcast also offered to divest itself of three million subscribers in a bid to get under 30 percent and perhaps appease regulators.

Comcast has also pointed out that it doesn't compete against Time Warner Cable in any individual cities or towns. That fact is illustrates how cable TV providers have effectively divided up territories to the point where individual consumers have few choices.

But for Comcast and its antitrust lawyers this is a positive: The merger won't reduce the number of cable choices customers have.

Comcast also argued that its increased size will bring cost savings and efficiencies that can help it improve quality of service and technology offered to consumers. Theoretically, economic benefits of the combined efficiencies and economies of scale should flow to consumers in the form of lower prices and/or higher quality service.

But it's likely that rates charged to cable TV customers will continue on the course they've held whether or not Comcast is allowed to absorb Time Warner. In fact Mr. Cohen expressly stated that Comcast is "certainly not promising that customer bills are going to go down or even increase less rapidly."

He also said, "I don’t believe there’s any way to argue that [consumers are] going to be hurt from a price perspective as a result of this transaction."

Comcast will certainly enjoy a better negotiating position vis-à-vis content providers in carriage negotiations, though it already pays significantly lower ra! tes than ! smaller MVPDs due to its size.

Where Comcast and Time Warner Cable differ, critically, from other companies such as Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) that provide "conduits" is that Comcast and Time Warner Cable also own significant interests in content providers. This mingling of conduit and content could form the basis of further concessions from Comcast when it gets down to the nitty-gritty with the government.

Top 5 Machinery Companies To Own For 2015

Should it come to pass Comcast would also become the largest broadband provider in the US, with control about half of "triple-play" services–video, voice and Internet. The two companies together would have about 33 million broadband connections that brought in about $18 billion in broadband revenue during 2013. More and more, "cable TV" is about broadband Internet.

According to Susan Crawford, a former tech policy advisor to President Obama, for the vast majority of businesses in 19 of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the country, their only choice for a high-capacity wired connection will be Comcast.

Ms. Crawford also noted that Comcast, "serving the interests of its shareholders," will keep network investment as low as possible rather than "provide the world-class fiber-optic connections that are now standard and cheap in other countries."

The reaction to the announcement thus far has been rather muted from a Comcast shareholder's perspective. The key of course is execution, integrating the Time Warner Cable footprint and existing subscribers, leveraging increased scale into better terms with content providers, advancing broadband offerings to meet the challenges represented by Netflix (NSDQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) as well as Apple Inc's (NSDQ: AAPL) Apple TV offering.

Comcast's audacity could have knock-on effects in the form of new confidence! on the p! art of SoftBank Corp (Japan: 9984, OTC: SFTBF, ADR: SFTBY) CEO Masayoshi Son, who may be emboldened to make his own move on behalf of Sprint Corp (NYSE: S), the No. 3 wireless carrier in the US, for No. 4 T-Mobile US (NSDQ: TMUS).

Up until now the prevailing assumption among telecom analysts had been that the FCC's rejection of AT&T Inc's (NYSE: T) bid to acquire T-Mobile in 2011 established a hard-and-fast mandate that the nationwide wireless competition include no less than four carriers.

Mr. Son, inspired by Comcast, may simply bid now and make concessions later.

Cable TV is not the future. But Comcast, should its Time Warner Cable aspiration be realized, will have significant existing relationships to exploit as it beefs up its Xfinity everywhere, all-the-time offering.

For Time Warner Cable shareholders it's clearly a boon, should it be consummated.

My cynicism is not so deep-rooted that I assume the deal will be approved simply because of connections between and among certain key and some ancillary players in what will be a compelling drama. But it's reasonable to assume Comcast at least put out feelers before it took such a significant step. And it has long feelers.

David Cohen, before he joined Comcast in 2002, was a partner with the powerful, well-connected Philadelphia law firm Ballard Spahr LLP.

From 1992 to 1997 he was Chief of Staff to Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, who subsequently served two terms as governor of Pennsylvania and was General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 2000 federal election cycle.

And he is probably well acquainted with Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York. Sen. Schumer, who shortly after the deal's announcement on Feb. 13, 2014, said in a statement on his website that he expected the "results of the merger will be positive for New York," has actually recused himself from a potential hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Ri! ghts beca! use his brother Robert Schumer, an attorney, worked on the transaction with his firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.

Sen. Schumer later said that he was unaware of his brother's involvement, despite the fact that Robert Schumer has represented Time Warner Cable on mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) matters for a number of years.

And the assistant attorney general in charge of the DoJ's Antitrust Division, Bill Baer, while a partner at Arnold & Porter, worked on Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal from his client General Electric Co (NYSE: GE)

Mr. Baer listed his involvement in the 2011 settlement as one of his "significant legal activities" in a questionnaire he filled out for the Senate Judiciary Committee before his confirmation to the DoJ post, which he assumed in January 2013.

That prior experience navigating the US regulatory review process, with the help of its longtime antitrust counsel at New York-based Davis Polk & Wardwell, and winning DoJ approval for its purchase of NBC Universal has certainly informed Comcast's decision to make an offer for Time Warner Cable.

Another key question, assuming a deal is finally consummated, is whether Comcast will invest at a level necessary to deliver the promised "quality" of services, content and innovation.

Feeling Healthy: Herbalife Jumps on Earnings Beat, Higher Guidance

Shares of Herbalife (HLF) are heading higher after the controversial multi-level seller bested earnings forecasts and offered higher guidance.

Bloomberg News

Herbalife reported a profit of $1.28 a share, beating estimates for $1.25. Sales came in at $1.3 billion, besting forecasts for $1.25 billion. Herbalife said it would earn between $5.85 cents and $6.05 a share in 2014, ahead of forecasts for $5.87.

The results shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, as Herbalife previewed results earlier this month.

Shares of Herbalife have jumped 4.2% to $71.81 in after-hours trading after gaining 3.8% today. Herbalife, Nu Skin Enterprises (NUS) and Usana Health Sciences (USNA) advanced today on reports that China was considering stricter regulation of multi-level sellers.

Bill Ackman won’t be pleased.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now

Getty Images Stress can drive people to do self-destructive things ... such as using "retail therapy" as a distraction or grabbing some Ben & Jerry's to lift the mood. Whether your emotions drive you to overeat or overspend, there are strategies to eliminate the connection between your feelings and behavior you know is bad for your wallet or your waistline. It's all about learning self-discipline, say Ellie Kay and Danna Demetre, co-authors of "Lean Body Fat Wallet."Doing so transforms your mind-set to the point where your internal motivation to do the right thing becomes natural. Getting to that point -- the point where you "realize that you don't need to eat or spend money to feel good about yourself" -- begins with thinking about why you overeat or overspend, Kay says. "For example, I've worked with military families that have a high level of debt. Some of them spend too much money just to comfort themselves when a family member is deployed." Breaking that habit -- snipping the connection between your emotions and your bad habits -- is the goal of the strategy that Kay and Demetre developed. The 3D Strategy The 3 D's are: determine, distract and delay. Kay describes the 3 Ds in action: "If you go to the mall and just buy the shoes your son needs, you start out determined not to buy anything you don't need," she says "Then you see some amazing Jimmy Choo shoes in the window that are on sale, but you know they're not in your budget. So you distract yourself by going to the other store and buying your son's shoes. Then you delay by promising yourself that you'll come back in a week or two if you can find money in your budget to buy those shoes. Chances are you won't be back." Demetre suggests starting with a 10-minute delay before eating anything or buying anything, just to exercise your discipline. During that 10 minutes, ask yourself, "Why do I want this?" "If it's immediate gratification, you may have buyer's remorse," Demetre says. "Whatever you're about to do, think about your quality of life, your health, or maybe your retirement and the impact your action will have on it." Wallet Wake-Up Calls The "waiting period" approach is a popular strategy for building discipline. Linda Rudnick-Smith, a credit counselor with ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions in Syracuse, N.Y., also recommends waiting before making any purchase to make sure you really need it. But the waiting period she recommends is 24 hours. "Leave the credit cards at home, so when you want to spontaneously buy something you have to go back home to get them," Rudnick-Smith says. She even recommends a more extreme measure: "Try freezing the credit cards in ice, so you have to chip away or melt it to get at them." Regular reminders about the ramifications of overspending are another strategy to help people stay on track. Sherry Tetreault, a credit counselor with ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions in Clarksville, Tenn., says she worked with a client who went shopping when she got depressed, and often became so caught up in her retail therapy that she spent way beyond her means. "During our conversation we determined that her children were the most important things in her life and that as a single parent she would do anything to take care of them," says Tetreault. "She said she never wanted to see them dealing with the financial struggles she was dealing with. I suggested that she buy a key ring that had a picture holder on it and place a picture of her children in it. That way every time she pulled out her keys to go shopping, she would see their picture and it would remind her that she had to stick with her goals and priorities. Later, during a follow-up with the client, she said this really worked for her as it gave her an immediate wake-up call." Tetreault says the same strategy worked with a woman who was terrified that she would lose her husband if he found out about how much debt she had accrued from her shopping addiction. She advised the woman to remove all credit cards from her wallet and put them in a safe place with his photo on top. "I also suggested that she place his picture in her wallet," says Tetreault. "This way, every time she started to use a credit card or even open her wallet to pay with cash, she would see his picture." The Communal Approach Strategies that work in weight-loss can be adopted for those trying to trim their spending, too. The most successful weight-loss programs, such as Weight Watchers (WTW), exercise a community approach for accountability, says Kay. "You can set up your own club with friends or coworkers about whatever you're struggling with, whether it's losing weight or getting rid of credit card debt," says Kay. "If you're not comfortable sharing your financial situation with a group, then you either share just a small part of it that you feel safe sharing or you can make yourself accountable to one friend." A debt-management plan is another way to incorporate accountability -- and built-in restrictions -- into your routine. One reason clients are successful in repaying debt and getting a "fresh start" through a debt management plan is that the accounts they enroll in the program are closed, says Thomas Nitzsche, a former credit counselor and senior media relations coordinator for ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions in St. Louis. "Clients are instructed that opening new lines of credit during repayment could result in some creditors dropping them from the program and increasing their interest rates and payments," says Nitzsche. "Clients are only allowed one credit card in good standing and with a manageable balance to be left out of the program." Make the Wealth-Health Connection Whether you struggle with overspending or overeating, it's important to create balance in your life. Guy Penn, principal and founder of G.M. Penn Wealth Management in St. Louis, says the most important investment you'll ever make in your life has nothing to do with money. "Invest in your own well-being," says Penn. "Eat well, make time for meaningful leisure, cultivate your relationships, and eliminate stressors. A sizable investment portfolio means very little if you're sacrificing your own health to achieve it." . In the wake of a number of high-profile cruise ship disasters, the cruise industry announced this week that it had approved a passengers' bill of rights. The document, which the industry says will be legally binding, mainly concerns passengers' rights in instances where a ship has become disabled. It resembles a similar bill of rights for airline passengers that the Department of Transportation drew up in 2011. Those rules concerned procedures for dealing with lengthy tarmac delays, lost baggage, and similar issues. That got us thinking: If cruise ship passengers and air travelers have their own bills of rights, why shouldn't shoppers? Sure, visitors to retail stores typically don't encounter situations as maddening as being stranded on a floating hotel where the bathrooms don't work, or trapped in a cramped coach-class seat while their flight sits on a tarmac for hours. But the shopping experience is still riddled with frustrations, and less-savvy shoppers are often taken advantage of by dodgy pricing, pushy salespeople and inconsistent policies.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries Inc(SCOK)

SinoCoking Coal and Coke Chemical Industries, Inc. operates as a coal and coke producer in the People?s Republic of China. The company offers metallurgical coke primarily for use in steel manufacturing; and chemical coke primarily for use in the production of synthesis gas, as well as a fuel source or as an intermediate for the production of other chemicals, such as methanol, formaldehyde, and ammonia. It also provides medium coal for electricity generation, and domestic and industrial heating applications; and coal slurries for use as a fuel. The company mines and sells washed coal, as well as engages in the trading of coal. In addition, it produces electricity from its by product, coal tar and sells to the state-owned electricity grid. The company is based in Pingdingshan, the People's Republic of China.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: ANN Inc (ANN)

ANN INC., incorporated in 1988, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is a specialty retailer of women�� apparel, shoes and accessories sold primarily under the Ann Taylor and LOFT brands. The Company�� Ann Taylor and LOFT brands offers a range of career and casual separates, dresses, tops, weekend wear, shoes and accessories. It offers updated past season sellers from the Ann Taylor and LOFT merchandise collections at its Ann Taylor Factory and LOFT Outlet stores, respectively, and the clients can also shop online at www.anntaylor.com and www.LOFT.com (together, Online Stores), or by phone at 1-800-DIAL-ANN and 1-888-LOFT-444. As of January 28, 2012, it operated 953 retail stores in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, consisted of 280 Ann Taylor stores, 500 LOFT stores, 99 Ann Taylor Factory stores and 74 LOFT Outlet stores.

Substantially all of the Company�� merchandise is developed by its in-house product design and development teams, who design merchandise exclusively for the Company. A small percentage of its merchandise is purchased through branded vendors, which is selected to complement its in-house assortment. The Company sourced merchandise from approximately 138 manufacturers and vendors in 19 countries. Approximately 42% of its merchandise unit purchases originated in China, 13% in the Philippines, 14% in Indonesia, 14% in India, and 13% in Vietnam. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiary, AnnTaylor Distribution Services, Inc., owns its 256,000-square-foot distribution center located in Louisville, Kentucky. The distribution center is located on approximately 27 acres. Its merchandise is distributed to stores, including the Online Stores, through this facility.

An average Ann Taylor store is approximately 5,500 square feet in size. The Company operates two Ann Taylor flagship stores, one located in New York City and one located in Chicago. LOFT stores average approximately 5,800 square feet. The Company also operates one LOFT flagship store! on the ground floor of 7 Times Square, its corporate headquarters, in New York City. During the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012 (fiscal 2011), it opened 14 LOFT stores that averaged approximately 5,500 square feet. Ann Taylor Factory stores average approximately 7,100 square feet. LOFT Outlet stores average approximately 7,000 square feet. During fiscal 2011, its LOFT Outlet stores were 38 new stores that averaged approximately 7,600 square feet.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  Why? Well, the high-profile announcement that ANN (NYSE: ANN  ) had managed to cut its carbon emissions by 20% in just a few years, largely by installing LED lighting in its stores, may have perked up companies' interest in LEDs recently. In theory, at least, this should result in greater demand for the widgets and greater demand for the machines that make the widgets, which Aixtron itself manufacturers as well.

Top 10 Performing Companies To Own In Right Now: Icahn Enterprises L.P. (IEP)

Icahn Enterprises L.P., through its subsidiaries, engages in investment, automotive, gaming, railcar, food packaging, metals, real estate, and home fashion businesses in the United States and internationally. Its Investment segment provides investment advisory, and administrative and back office services to the investment funds. The company�s Automotive segment offers powertrain energy, powertrain sealing and bearings, vehicle safety and protection, and aftermarket products for original equipment manufacturers. Icahn Enterprises L.P.�s Gaming segment owns and operates casino gaming properties. It has 9 casino facilities with 7,485 slot machines, 226 table games and 6,048 hotel rooms in Nevada, Mississippi, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Aruba. The company�s Railcar segment designs, manufactures, sells, and leases hopper and tank railcars; custom designed railcar parts and other industrial products, primarily aluminum and special alloy steel castings; and provides r epair and maintenance services for railcar fleets. Icahn Enterprises L.P.�s Food Packaging segment produces and sells cellulosic, fibrous, and plastic casings for the processed meat and poultry industry. The company�s Metals segment collects, processes, and sells ferrous and non-ferrous metals, as well as processes and distributes steel pipe and plate products. Icahn Enterprises L.P.�s Real Estate segment engages in the rental of retail, office, and industrial properties; construction and sale of single-family and multi-family homes, lots in subdivisions and planned communities, and raw land for residential development; and golf and resort activities. The company�s Home Fashion segment manufactures, sources, distributes, markets, and sells home fashion consumer products, including bed, bath, basic bedding, and kitchen textile products. Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc. serves as the general partner of the company. Icahn Enterprises L.P. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Units of Icahn Enterprises LP (IEP) �declined 6.6% to $138.75 on moderate volume after the investment firm said it was selling 2 million depositary units for investments in one or more of its nine subsidiaries.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Arotech Corporation(ARTX)

Arotech Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides defense and security products. It operates in three divisions: Training and Simulation, Battery and Power Systems, and Armor. The Training and Simulation division develops, manufactures, and markets multimedia and interactive digital solutions for use-of-force training and driving training of military, law enforcement, security, and other personnel; provides simulators, systems engineering, and software products to the United States military, government, and private industry; and offers specialized use of force training for police, security personnel, and the military. The Battery and Power Systems division manufactures and sells lithium and zinc-air batteries for defense and security products and other military applications; and develops and sells rechargeable and primary lithium batteries and smart chargers to the military and to private defense industry. This division also develops, manufactures, and markets primary zinc-air batteries, rechargeable batteries, and battery chargers for the military; and produces water-activated lifejacket lights for commercial aviation and marine applications. The Armor Division manufactures military and paramilitary armored vehicles, and employs sophisticated lightweight materials to produce aviation armor; and uses engineering concepts to produce combat armored military vehicles and up-armor civilian commercial vehicles. This division also uses lightweight armoring materials and advanced engineering processes to provide ballistic armor kits for rotary and fixed wing aircraft. Arotech sells its products primarily in the United States, Israel, Taiwan, Canada, England, Germany, Australia, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, India, Spain, Singapore, and Japan. The company was formerly known as Electric Fuel Corporation and changed its name to Arotech Corporation in September 2003. Arotech Corporation was founded in 1990 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  For those traders who were lucky and smart enough to be in an Arotech Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTX) before today, then congratulations - you're up at least 38% on your position. Now it's time to get out. Conversely, if you're looking for a new name to get into (or perhaps looking for a place to park your ARTX proceeds), then you may want to consider Pazoo Inc. (OTCBB:PZOO)... a tiny online retailer of health and fitness goods. PZOO has dropped several tell-tale hints that more upside is on the way.

• [By Roberto Pedone]

  One under-$10 stock that's quickly moving within range of triggering a major breakout trade is Arotech (ARTX), which is a defense and security products and services company, engaged in two business areas: interactive simulation for military, law enforcement and commercial markets; and batteries and charging systems for the military. This stock has been on fire so far in 2013, with shares up big by 98%.

  If you take a look at the chart for Arotech, you'll notice that this stock is spiking sharply higher today right above its 50-day moving average of $1.84 a share with above-average volume. Volume so far in Thursday has registered over 430,000 shares, which is well above its three-month average action of 302,874 shares. This spike is quickly pushing shares of ARTX within range of triggering a major breakout trade.

  Traders should now look for long-biased trades in ARTX if it manages to break out above some key overhead resistance levels at $2.35 to its 52-week high at $2.71 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 302,874 shares. If that breakout hits soon, then ARTX will set up to enter new 52-week-high territory, which is bullish technical price action. Some possible upside targets off that breakout are $4 to $5 a share.

  Traders can look to buy ARTX off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below its 50-day moving average at $1.84 a share, or below more support at $1.63 a share. One can also buy ARTX off strength once it clears those breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.

• [By Bryan Murphy]

  The great part about trading is the same thing that can make it a miserable game to play... nothing lasts forever. If you can spot the points in time when the winds blowing a stock are about to change, you can make or save a fortune. If you miss those subtle clues, however, you can lose... big-time. Enter Arotech Corporation (NASDAQ:ARTX) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARIA). Both have been well-watched stocks of late, and for food reason - both are big movers, in one direction or the other. Now, however, both ARIA and ARTX� are poised to move in a new direction - opposite directions - and traders looking for a good opportunity may want to take a closer look at both [which is what you're about to do].

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Paulson Capital Corp.(PLCC)

Paulson Capital Corp., through its subsidiary, Paulson Investment Company, Inc., operates as a brokerage company principally in the United States. It engages in securities brokerage activities, which include acting as agent for purchase and sale of common and preferred stocks, options, warrants, and debt securities traded on securities exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. The company?s corporate finance activities comprise underwriting initial and follow-on public offerings, private investments in public equity, and private placements for smaller companies; securities trading and market making activities consist of executing trades in equity securities, corporate debt securities, and municipal bonds; and market making activities are conducted with dealers in the wholesale market and its customers. Its investment activities include holding securities for investment, which primarily include securities purchased for investment and underwriter warrants. As of December 31, 2010, the company operated 39 branch offices in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Paulson Capital Corp. was founded in 1969 and is based in Portland, Oregon.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Paulson Capital Corp. (Nasdaq:PLCC), parent company of Paulson Investment Company, Inc., reported a net income of $1,412,294 (or $0.24 per share) for the three months ended March 31, 2012 versus a net loss of $381,210 (or ($0.07) per share) for the like period in 2011.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cardero Resource Corporation(CDY)

Cardero Resource Corp., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, the United States, and Canada. The company holds a 75% interest in the Carbon Creek deposit, a metallurgical coal development project located in the Peace River Coal Field of northeast British Columbia, Canada. It also has an option to acquire 100% interest in the Pampa El Toro project, an iron sands deposit, located in southern Peru; option to acquire up to an 85% interest in the Longnose property in St. Louis county, northeastern Minnesota; and 100% leasehold interest in the Titac property, located in St. Louis county, northeastern Minnesota. The company was formerly known as Sun Devil Gold Corp. and changed its name to Cardero Resource Corp. in May 1999. Cardero Resource Corp. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: LeMaitre Vascular Inc (LMAT)

LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. (LeMaitre Vascular), incorporated on November 28, 1983, is a global provider of medical devices and implants for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. The Company develops, manufacture, and market vascular devices to addresses the needs of vascular surgeons. The Company's diversified portfolio of peripheral vascular devices consists of brand name products that are used in arteries and veins outside of the heart and are well known to vascular surgeons, including the Expandable LeMaitre Valvulotome, the Pruitt F3 Carotid Shunt, and VascuTape Radiopaque Tape. The Company sells 12 product lines, most of which are used in open vascular surgery and some of which are used in endovascular procedures. The Company sells its products primarily through a direct sales force. The Company�� products are used by vascular surgeons who treat peripheral vascular disease through both open surgical methods and endovascular techniques. In July 2013, Lemaitre Vascular Inc acquired the assets of Clinical Instruments International, Inc. In August 2013, Lemaitre Vascular Inc acquired the assets of InaVein, LLC.

In June 2011, the Company divested its TAArget and UniFit stent grafts to Duke Vascular, Inc. In August 2011, the Company terminated its distribution of Endologix�� aortic stent graft products in Europe. In November 2011, it launched the second-generation of The UnBalloon Non-Occlusive Modeling Catheter. In December 2011, the Company launched the Over-The-Wire LeMaitre Valvulotome.

Open Vascular Products

The Company�� open vascular products are used primarily in conventional open vascular surgery for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. LeMaitre line of embolectomy catheters are used to remove blood clots from arteries or veins. The Company manufactures single-lumen latex and latex-free embolectomy catheters, as well as dual-lumen latex embolectomy catheters. The dual-lumen embolectomy catheter allows clot removal and simultaneous irri! gation or guide-wire trackability. Its Pruitt line of occlusion and perfusion catheters reduces vessel trauma by using internal balloon fixation rather than traditional external clamp fixation.

Pruitt F3, Pruitt-Inahara, Inahara-Pruitt, and Flexcel Carotid Shunts are used to temporarily divert, or shunt, blood to the brain while the surgeon removes plaque from the carotid artery in a carotid endarterectomy surgery. Its Pruitt F3, Pruitt-Inahara, and Inahara-Pruitt shunts feature internal balloon fixation that eliminates the need for clamps, thereby reducing vessel trauma. Its Flexcel shunt is a non-balloon shunt offered for surgeons who prefer to secure their shunt using externally placed clamps.

EndoRE line of remote endarterectomy devices are used to remove severe atherosclerotic blockages from the major arteries of the leg in a minimally invasive procedure requiring a single incision in the groin. Its EndoRE devices are used to separate the sclerotic blockage from the vessel, cut the far end of the blockage to free it for removal, and then withdraw the blockage from the vessel.

Expandable LeMaitre Valvulotome and its Over-The-Wire LeMaitre Valvulotome cut valves in the saphenous vein, a vein that runs from the foot to the groin, so that the vein can function as a bypass vessel to carry blood past diseased arteries to the lower leg or the foot. The Expandable LeMaitre Valvulotome is the only self-sizing and self-centering valvulotome available, and the Over-The-Wire LeMaitre Valvulotome is the only over-the-wire self-sizing valvulotome available.

AlboGraft Woven and Knitted Vascular Grafts are collagen-impregnated polyester grafts used to bypass or replace diseased arteries. They are available in both straight tube and bifurcated versions. LifeSpan ePTFE Vascular Graft is an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) graft used to bypass or replace diseased arteries, and to create dialysis access sites. They are available in both regular and thin wall ! options a! nd with an optional full or partial external spiral support to increase resistance to compression or kinking. Its LifeSpan models are designed to reduce the risk of steal syndrome and high cardiac output, which are complications that may arise in dialysis access grafts.

AlboSure Vascular Patch is a polyester patch used in conjunction with endarterectomy and vascular reconstructions. Vascular surgeons use patches in conjunction with carotid endarterectomy, remote endarterectomy, and other vascular reconstructions. The Company also distributes the XenoSure Biologic Vascular Patch, a patch made from bovine pericardium.

AnastoClip VCS and AnastoClip GC Vessel Closure Systems allow surgeons to attach vessels, native and prosthetic, to one another by deploying titanium clips in place of suturing. These vessel closure systems create an interrupted anastomosis, or a vessel attachment that expands and contracts as the vessel pulses.

Endovascular and Other Products

The Company�� endovascular products are used primarily by vascular surgeons in minimally invasive endovascular procedures, such as stent-grafting, angioplasty, stenting, and atherectomy, and it also sells non-vascular medical devices used in general surgery procedures, primarily laparoscopic cholecystectomy. UnBalloon Non-Occlusive Modeling Catheter is used to apply radial pressure to the inside of an aortic stent graft in order to seal the outer lining of the stent graft against either the aorta or an adjacent stent graft.

VascuTape Radiopaque Tape is a flexible, medical-grade tape with centimeter or millimeter markings printed with its radiopaque ink that is visible both to the eye and to an X-ray machine or fluoroscope. VascuTape Radiopaque Tape is applied to the skin and provides interventionalists with a simple way to cross-reference between the inside and the outside of a patient�� body, allowing them to locate tributaries or lesions beneath the skin.

In some hosp! itals, va! scular surgery procedures are performed by general surgeons. The Company sells on-vascular medical devices used in general surgery procedures, primarily laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The Company�� general surgery product, the Reddick Cholangiogram Catheter is used to inject dye into the cystic duct during laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The Company also offers two laparoscopic accessories used in laparoscopic gall bladder removal.

The Company competes with Applied Medical Resources Corporation, Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Cook Group Incorporated, C.R. Bard, Inc., Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Getinge AB, Jotec GmbH, Medtronic, Inc., Terumo Medical Corporation, Uresil, LLC and W. L. Gore & Associates.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Cr Bergamasco(CBGI.MI)

Credito Bergamasco S.p.A operates in the banking industry in Italy. It offers demand deposits and time deposits, as well as short-term loans and medium/long-term loans. The company also performs other activities, such as bills portfolio, foreign currency transactions and securities, and interbank deposits and financing. Credito Bergamasco was established in 1891 and is headquartered in Bergamo, Italy. Credito Bergamasco S.p.A. operates as a subsidiary of Banco Popolare Societa Cooperativa Scarl.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Transol Corporation Ltd(TNC.AX)

Transol Corporation Limited engages in the development and commercialization of computerized driver license theory testing system; digital music business; and investment in mineral exploration assets in Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, and Asia. The company offers computerized theory testing systems, which include online Web services platforms for the delivery of education, assessment, and collaboration services for road code and rules; and corus-share.com, a Web 2.0 collaboration software platform, which utilizes social computing software tools and functionality to integrate a range of Web-based applications that allows users to communicate, interact, create, and share information. It also engages in the digital distribution, publishing, and online marketing of music and video content focused primarily on content and services in the Asia Pacific region selling to various online stores. In addition, the company holds investment in mineral exploration assets, including six projects in the Kingdom of Cambodia and Australia. It primarily explores for gold, lead, and bauxite. The company was formerly known as Online Trading Systems Limited and changed its name to Transol Corporation Limited in August 2003. Transol Corporation Limited was founded in 1999 and is based in Melbourne, Australia.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Mega Uranium Ltd Com Npv (MGA.TO)

Mega Uranium Ltd., a mineral exploration and development company, focuses on the acquisition and exploration of uranium properties in Australia, Cameroon, and Canada. The company also holds interests in precious and base metal properties in Canada. Its principal properties include Ben Lomond property located in Queensland, Australia; Lake Maitland property located in the eastern Goldfields area of Western Australia; and the Maureen uranium deposit located in the Georgetown area of Queensland. The company was formerly known as Maple Minerals Corp. and changed its name to Mega Uranium Ltd. in October 2005. Mega Uranium Ltd. was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Hot Promising Stocks To Watch Right Now: Clime Capital Ltd (CAM.AX)

Clime Capital Limited is a publically owned investment manager. The firm manages separate client focused equity portfolios. It also manages mutual funds for its clients. The firm invests in equities of publicly listed and unlisted companies. It invests in value stocks by employing fundamental analysis to make its investments. Clime Capital Limited was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Sydney, Australia.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015

Santander�(SAN)'s dividend yield, at an expected 9%, is the highest among large banking institutions, but its payout ratio is as high as it gets at an expected 119% for 2014 ��down from 132% in 2013. As a matter of fact, I would not expect the bank to have a dividend payout ratio below 100% until 2016. Nevertheless, the bank's chairman ��Emilio Botin ��is very much committed to sustaining Santander's dividend and we should not expect this policy to change in the foreseeable future unless the Bank of Spain forbids Santander to keep on distributing cash at the current rate.

On Santander's Quarterly Results

Despite weaker results in Spain and in Latin America (Latin America constitutes almost 70% of Santander's net profits), Santander was able to post decent third quarter results thanks to better currency trends and its ameliorating UK division. Besides, through better credit metrics and cost cutting initiatives, the bank is positioned to show a much better profitability level going forward. As a matter of fact, Credit Suisse's analysts ��who are not specially bullish on the name ��expect Santander's profitability level (its returns on tangible book value) to increase to 14% by 2015 from the current 10%.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: C Ltd(CEO.AX)

Draig Resources Limited engages in the development and exploration of coal projects primarily in Mongolia. It develops 8 coal licenses in that cover 624.97 square kilometers in Ovorhangay and South Gobi provinces. The company was formerly known as C@ Limited and changed its name to Draig Resources Limited in December 2011. Draig Resources Limited was incorporated in 2004 and is based in West Perth, Australia.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Verifone Systems Inc.(PAY)

Verifone Systems, Inc. designs, markets, and services electronic payment solutions in North America and internationally. It provides system solutions, including countertop electronic payment systems that accepts magnetic, smart card, contactless/ radio frequency identification(RFID) cards, and near field communication(NFC) enabled mobile phones; secure PIN pads that support credit and debit transactions; and wireless system solutions that support Internet protocol-based code division multiple access, general packet radio service, bluetooth, and wireless fidelity technologies. The company also offers products for consumer-activated functionality at the point of sale; contactless/NFC payment solutions consisting of contactless readers primarily for consumer-activated transactions with contactless cards, tokens, and NFC-enabled mobile phones; and Gemstone family of products comprising integrated electronic payment systems for petroleum companies. In addition, it provides serv er-based payment processing software and middleware; unattended and self-service payments hardware and software integration modules, such as vending machines, ATMs, ticketing kiosks, petroleum dispensers, public transportation turnstiles and buses, self-checkout, bill payment, and photo finishing kiosks; retail bank branch solutions; mass transportation solutions; and network access solutions. Further, the company offers client services, customized application development, advertising publishing, taxi payments and advertising, cardholder data security, annual software maintenance program, and repair services. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, petroleum companies, large retailers, taxi fleets, government organizations, healthcare companies, independent sales organizations, and advertisers. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY) shares tumbled 7.36 percent to $23.16 after the company posted a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter and issued downbeat earnings forecast for the fiscal first quarter and full year.

10 Best Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Vantex Resources Ltd (VAX.V)

Vantex Resources Ltd, a junior mining exploration company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, production, and development of gold properties in Canada. It principal project include the Galloway gold project that comprises approximately 2488 hectares, 63 claims, and 3 mining concessions located in the Dasserat Township, Abitibi district of Quebec. The company was formerly known as Vantex Oil, Gas and Minerals Ltd and changed its name to Vantex Resources Ltd in February 2004. Vantex Resources Ltd was founded in 1987 and is based in La Prairie, Canada.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Harvard Bioscience Inc.(HBIO)

Harvard Bioscience, Inc. develops, manufactures, and markets apparatus and scientific instruments used in life science research in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, universities, and government laboratories in the United States and internationally. The company?s products target ADMET testing, and molecular biology and liquid handling application areas. Its ADMET testing products comprise absorption diffusion chambers that measure the absorption of a drug into the bloodstream; well equilibrium dialysis plates for serum protein binding assays; organ testing systems; infusion pumps for infusing liquids; behavioral products used in neuroscience, cardiology, psychological, and respiratory studies to evaluate the effects of situational stimuli, drugs, and nutritional infusions on motor and sensory, activity, and learning and test behavior; cell injection systems; ventilators; and electroporation products. The company also distributes various devices, instruments, and c onsumable items used in experiments involving cells, tissues, organs, and animals in the fields of proteomics, physiology, pharmacology, neuroscience, cell biology, molecular biology, and toxicology. It sells its ADMET testing products under the Harvard Apparatus, BTX, KD Scientific, Hugo Sachs Elektronik, Panlab, and Warner Instruments brands names. Its molecular biology and liquid handling products include molecular biology spectrophotometers, DNA/RNA/protein calculators, multi-well plate readers, amino acid analysis systems, liquid dispensers, gel electrophoresis systems, and consumables primarily consisting of pipettes, pipette tips, autoradiography films, gloves, thermal cycler accessories, and reagents. The company sells its products to researchers through catalogs, its Website, and distributors, as well as directly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, and Canada. Harvard Bioscience, Inc. was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Hollisto n, Massachusetts.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Azumah Resources Ltd (AZM.AX)

Azumah Resources Limited engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties. The company explores for gold and other mineral deposits. It primarily owns a 100% interest in the Wa Gold project that covers a land holding of 3,157 square kilometers located in northwest Ghana, west Africa. The company was incorporated in 2004 and is based in West Perth, Australia.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Tata Steel Ltd (TISC.NS)

Tata Steel Limited is a manufacturer of steel and steel products. The Company�� Global Wires Business consists of Steel�� Wire Division in India, Siam Industrial Wire in Thailand and Lanka Special Steels Limited in Sri Lanka. The Company�� product includes Hot Rolled Coils; Cold Rolled Coils and Galvanized Coils; Wire Rods and Rebars. The Company�� Tata Growth Shop (TGS) is a multi disciplinary engineering complex that designs and manufactures heavy engineering and material handling equipment including special purpose Electric Overhead Travelling Cranes. The Company�� Agrico division product range includes Hoes, Sickles, Crowbars, Shovels, Pick Axes, Hammers and others. The Company�� segment includes Tubes, Bearings, Refractories, Pigments, Port operations, Town services and Investment activities.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Babcock Int Grp(BAB.L)

Babcock International Group PLC provides engineering support services. It operates in four segments: Marine and Technology, Defense and Security, Support Services, and International. The Marine and Technology segment offers naval support services. This segment?s services include base porting, refitting, refueling, and decommissioning submarines; and maintaining and refitting warships, building the aircraft carriers, managing naval bases, and providing equipment support. The Defense and Security segment provides training and asset support services to the armed forces. The Support Services segment offers a range of training and support services to various civil government and blue-chip customers, including government departments, police authorities, fire and rescue authorities, local authorities, and international companies. This segment offers equipment support, infrastructure support, education and training, and communications services. The International segment provides support services ranging from design and implementation of specific training programs to the maintenance and logistics support of assets, including communication systems, facilities, vehicles, and aircraft to the U.S. armed forces. This segment also offers engineering support services to the energy, process, mining, and construction industries. The company primarily serves defense, airports, communications, education, emergency services, energy, nuclear, property, training, and rail industries. It has operations in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The company was founded in 1891 is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Foster Wheeler AG. (FWLT)

Foster Wheeler AG, through its subsidiaries, operates as an engineering and construction contractor; and power generating equipment supplier worldwide. Its Global Engineering and Construction division designs, engineers, and constructs onshore and offshore upstream oil and gas processing facilities; natural gas liquefaction facilities and receiving terminals; gas-to-liquids facilities; and oil refining, chemical and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology facilities, as well as related infrastructure, including power generation, distribution, gasification, and processing facilities for metals and mining sector. This division also designs carbon capture and storage, and solid fuel-fired integrated gasification combined-cycle power plants, as well as coal-to-liquids, coal-to-chemicals, and biofuels facilities; and operates power generation facilities, such as conventional and renewable source, and waste-to-energy facilities. In addition, it offers project and constr uction management services, including procurement of equipment, materials, and services from third-party suppliers and contractors; provides environmental remediation services; and designs and supplies direct-fired furnaces comprising fired heaters and waste heat recovery generators used in refinery, chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas processes. The company�s Global Power division designs, manufactures, and erects steam generators and auxiliary equipment, including surface condensers, feedwater heaters, coal pulverizers, steam generator coils and panels, biomass gasifiers, and replacement parts; nitrogen-oxide reduction systems and components; and flue gas desulfurization equipment for steam generators. It also offers various site services; conducts research and development in combustion, fluid and gas dynamics, heat transfer, materials, and solid mechanics areas; and licenses technology to other steam generator suppliers. The company was founded in 1894 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By CRWE]

  Foster Wheeler AG (Nasdaq:FWLT) reported that a subsidiary of its Global Engineering and Construction Group has been awarded a contract by PDVSA Petr贸leo S.A. for the engineering, procurement services and construction management (EPCm) for the El Palito Refinery Expansion Project in Venezuela.

Top 10 Net Payout Yield Companies For 2015: Hasbro Inc.(HAS)

Hasbro, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of games and toys. The company principally provides children?s and family leisure time and entertainment products and services. It offers various games, including traditional board, card, hand-held electronic, trading card, roleplaying, and DVD games, as well as electronic learning aids and puzzles. Hasbro?s toy products include boy?s action figures, vehicles and playsets, girl?s toys, electronic toys, plush products, preschool toys and infant products, electronic interactive products, creative play products, and toy related specialty products. The company also licenses certain of its trademarks, characters, and other property rights to third parties for use in connection with consumer promotions and for the sale of noncompeting toys and games, and non-toy products. It offers its products primarily under PLAYSKOOL, TRANSFORMERS, NERF, MY LITTLE PONY, LITTLEST PET SHOP, TONKA, G.I. JOE, SUPER SOAKER, MILTON BRAD LEY, PARKER BROTHERS, CRANIUM, AVALON HILL, TIGER, FURREAL FRIENDS, BABY ALIVE, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brand names. The company markets its products to various customers, including wholesalers, distributors, chain stores, discount stores, mail order houses, catalog stores, department stores, and other retailers, as well as Internet-based e-tailers. It has a strategic licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), which provides EA with the worldwide rights to create digital games for various platforms, including mobile phones, personal computers, and game consoles, as well as; and a strategic relationship with Universal Pictures to produce approximately three motion pictures based on certain of company?s brands. Hasbro sells its products through its own sales force and distributors primarily in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and South America. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Paw tucket, Rhode Island.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  We're seeing the exact same setup in shares of toymaker Hasbro (HAS) right now. Like CGG, Hasbro has a horizontal resistance level above shares – at $48 in this case – and uptrending support to the downside. The key difference here is that Hasbro's triangle is more conventional than the one in the French oil stock. A breakout above $48 is the signal to become a buyer.

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

  That resistance line at $48 is a price where there's an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to take recent gains and sell their shares than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes the move above it so significant – a breakout indicates that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Wait for that signal to happen before you jump into this stock, then it makes sense to put a protective stop in place at the 50-day moving average.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now

With shares of Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) trading around $96, is PM an OUTPERFORM, WAIT AND SEE or STAY AWAY? Let�� analyze the stock with the relevant sections of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework:

T = Trends for a Stock’s Movement

Philip Morris�manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products. The company�s portfolio of international and local brands include Marlboro, Merit, Parliament, Virginia Slims, L&M, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark, Muratti, Next, Philip Morris, and Red & White.�The company sells its products in approximately 180 countries in the European Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Canada. Through its established brands, Philip Morris provides satisfaction to large base of consumers that purchase its products on a daily basis. During good and bad times, the products produced and sold by the company will continue to acquire customers well into the future.

NEW! Discover a new stock idea each week for less than the cost of 1 trade. CLICK HERE for your Weekly Stock Cheat Sheets NOW!

T = Technicals on the Stock Chart are Strong

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nuveen Select Tax Free Income Portfolio(NXP)

Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio is an exchange traded fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. It is managed by Nuveen Asset Management Inc. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in long-term municipal obligations with investment-grade ratings (Baa and BBB or better). Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio was formed on March 19, 1992 and is domiciled in United States.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Fresenius Medical Care Corporation (FMS)

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, a dialysis company, provides products and services for patients with chronic kidney diseases. As of May 12, 2011, it provided dialysis care services to 216,942 patients through its network of 2,769 dialysis clinics primarily in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, and Africa. The company also develops and manufactures various dialysis products, including hemodialysis machines, dialyzers, hemofilters, dialysis fluid filters, tubing systems, fistula needles, dialysis related equipment, acute hemodialysis machines, plasma filters, acute tubing systems and cassettes, catheters, and related disposable products for chronic hemodialysis, acute therapy, home therapy, and therapeutic apheresis, as well as dialysis drugs. In addition, it provides laboratory services. Fresenius Medical sells its products through distributors. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Johanna Bennett]

  Dialysis provider DaVita Healthcare Partners (DVA) soared almost 8.9% to close at $61.55 after the market learned that Medicare funding cuts would come in lower than expected. Rival Fresenius Medical Care (FMS) rose 7.2% on the same news.

• [By Charles Carlson, CEO and Portfolio Manager, Horizon Investment Services]

  For investors looking for growth but also income, I especially like three health-care related stocks��resenius Medical (FMS), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and Smith & Nephew (SNN).

• [By Ben Eisen]

  DaVita (DVA) �gained 8.9% and Fresenius (FMS) �rose 7.2%.

5 Best Tech Stocks To Own Right Now: Telefonica SA(TEF)

Telefonica, S.A. provides fixed and mobile telephony services primarily in Spain, rest of Europe, and Latin America. Its fixed telecommunication services include PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone; local, domestic, and international long distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; video telephony; supplementary and business-oriented value-added services; network services; leasing and sale of handset equipment; and telephony information services. The company?s Internet and broadband multimedia services comprise Internet service provider service; portal and network services; retail and wholesale broadband access; narrowband switched access to Internet; naked ADSL, a broadband connection; residential-oriented value-added services; companies-oriented value-added services; television services, such as IPTV, cable television, and satellite television; and Fiber to the Home, a service for high speed Internet access and digital video recording. Its data and business-solutions services principally include leased lines; virtual private network services; fiber optics services; the provision of hosting and application; outsourcing and consultancy services; desktop services; and system integration and professional services. The company?s wholesale services for telecommunication operators primarily comprise domestic interconnection services; international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators? network deployment; local loop leasing under the unbundled local loop regulation framework; and bit stream services. It also offers various mobile and related services and products that include mobile voice services, value added services, mobile data and Internet services, wholesale services, corporate services, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. The company has a strategic alliance with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited. Telefonica, S.A. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spai n.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Holly LaFon]

  Charlie: Yes, I have a question. Do you think the opportunity is more in stocks or in debt, or both? If you look at Spain, the biggest companies in Spain, one is a bank, Bank Santander (STD). The other is Telefonica (TEF), a phone company. What other opportunities do you see there?

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: BP p.l.c.(BP)

BP p.l.c. provides fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services, and petrochemicals products. Its Exploration and Production segment engages in the oil and natural gas exploration, field development, and production; midstream transportation, and storage and processing; and marketing and trading of natural gas, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and power and natural gas liquids (NGL). This segment has exploration and production activities in Angola, Azerbaijan, Canada, Egypt, Norway, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as in Asia, Australasia, South America, North Africa, and the Middle East. This segment also owns and manages crude oil and natural gas pipelines; processing facilities and export terminals; and LNG processing and transportation, as well as NGL extraction facilities. BP p.l.c. has interests in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system, the Forties pipeline system, the Central Area transmission sys tem pipeline, the South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, as well as in LNG plants located in Trinidad, Indonesia, and Australia. The company?s Refining and Marketing segment involves in the supply and trading, refining, manufacturing, marketing, and transportation of crude oil, petroleum, and petrochemicals products and related services to wholesale and retail customers primarily under the BP, Castrol, ARCO, and Aral brands. Its Other Businesses and Corporate segment produces and markets rolled aluminum products, as well as generates energy through wind, solar, biofuels, hydrogen, and carbon capture and storage sources; and engages in shipping activities. The company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET.COM]

  As long as the broader market holds, BP should perform well going forward. If litigation costs exceed expectations, it might lead to a drop in the stock price, but that would only be temporary. Investors would then look at it as something that�� now out of the way, which is always a positive.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Flamel Technologies S.A.(FLML)

Flamel Technologies S.A., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development and commercialization of controlled-release therapeutic products based on its proprietary polymer based technology in the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States, France, and Europe. The company develops nanogel Medusa technology, which is intended to provide controlled release following injection of therapeutic proteins, peptides, and other molecules; a microparticle adaptation of the Medusa platform that is intended for use in the delivery of smaller proteins and peptides; and Micropump technology, a microparticle technology for oral administration of small molecule drugs with applications in controlled-release, taste-masking, and bioavailability enhancement; and Trigger-Lock technology, an adaptation based on Micropump technology, which is intended to minimize the misuse and abuse of medications subject to abuse. Its principal product based on Micropump technology is Coreg CR, which is intended for the treatment of moderate to severe heart failure and left ventricular dysfunction following myocardial infarction. The company?s products under development based upon Medusa technology include Interferon-alpha, a naturally occurring protein that the body uses for the treatment of Hepatitis C virus and as a immune response; and FT-105, an injectable insulin formulation for diabetic patients. Its products based on its Micropump technology comprise LiquiTime for the elderly and pediatric patient patients, or others who have difficulty swallowing. The company has strategic alliance with Baxter International, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck Serono; and Pfizer Inc, as well as has a joint development agreement with Digna Biotech, S.L. Flamel Technologies S.A. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Venissieux, France.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aercap Holdings N.V. (AER)

AerCap Holdings N.V., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated aviation company worldwide. It engages in leasing and trading aircraft and engines; and selling parts. The company also provides aircraft management services, as well as aircraft and limited engine MRO services, and aircraft disassembly services through its repair stations. In addition, it offers aircraft services, including remarketing aircraft; collecting rental and maintenance payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft; conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews; inspecting the leased aircraft; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructurings negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and aircraft engine valuations; and providing market research. The company?s management services include leasing and remarketing, cash management and treasury, technical advisory, and accounting and administrative services. As of March 31, 2011, it owned 272 aircraft and 95 engines, which it leased under operating leases to 118 lessees in 53 countries. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Schiphol, the Netherlands.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  Yesterday around midday,�Netherlands based aviation leasing stock�AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER) began surging on rumors and closed up 11.6%, meaning its probably time to take a closer look at those rumors along with aviation leasing peers like small caps or mid caps�Aircastle Limited (NYSE: AYR), Air Lease Corp (NYSE: AL), Fly Leasing Ltd (NYSE: FLY) and AeroCentury Corp (NYSEMKT: ACY).

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Finally. Finally American International Group (AIG) has disposed of its ILFC unit by selling it to AerCap Holdings (AER).

  Bloomberg News

  The Wall Street Journal has the details on the deal:

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: STMicroelectronics N.V.(STM)

STMicroelectronics N.V., an independent semiconductor company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of a range of semiconductor integrated circuits and discrete devices. Its products include discrete and standard commodity components, application-specific integrated circuits, custom devices and semi-custom devices, and application-specific standard products for analog, digital, and mixed-signal applications. The company also offers subsystems and modules for the telecommunications, automotive, and industrial markets comprising mobile phone accessories, battery chargers, ISDN power supplies, and in-vehicle equipment for electronic toll payment, as well as provides Smartcard products. Its products are used in various microelectronic applications consisting of automotive products, computer peripherals, telecommunications systems, consumer products, industrial automation, and control systems. The company sells its products through distributors and ret ailers. STMicroelectronics N.V. was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM  ) and OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) are the two camera suppliers, and HTC is reportedly no longer considered a "tier one" manufacturer so it doesn't get priority any more. That implies that one of these image sensor specialists was giving HTC the cold shoulder in favor of bigger names.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: TotalFinaElf S.A.(TOT)

TOTAL S.A., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated oil and gas company worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemicals. The Upstream segment engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. It also involves in the transportation, trade, and marketing of natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as in LNG re-gasification and natural gas storage operations. In addition, this segment engages in the shipping and trade of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); power generation from gas-fired power plants, nuclear, or renewable energies; production, trade, and marketing of coal, as well as in solar power systems and technology operations. As of December 31, 2010, it had combined proved reserves of 10,695 Mboe of oil and gas. The Downstream segment involves in refining, marketing, trading, and shipping crude oil and petroleum products. It also produces a range of specialty products, s uch as lubricants, LPG, jet fuel, special fluids, bitumen, marine fuels, and petrochemical feedstock. This segment holds interests in 24 refineries located in Europe, the United States, the French West Indies, Africa, and China, as well as operates a network of 17,490 service stations. The Chemicals segment produces base chemicals, including petrochemicals and fertilizers, as well as engages in rubber processing, resins, adhesives, and electroplating activities. TOTAL S.A. was founded in 1924 and is based in Paris, France.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  But the rising tide of US production at these price levels is also going to call into question the investment logic of even higher cost sources, such as Brazil's deep-water pre-salt reserves in the South Atlantic. If the US oil export ban falls—and I'm pretty sure it will—oil producers in high cost and infrastructure challenged regions—the Russia off-shore Arctic and some of the undeveloped reserves in Siberia—could well find it very difficult to raise the necessary—and huge—amounts of investment capital they'll need. I think we're already seeing evidence that the more hard nosed number crunchers in the oil industry—such as Norway's Statoil ((STO) in New York and (STL:NO) in Oslo) are already rethinking investments in high cost projects, such as Mozambique and the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, that would bring natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe. Statoil and Total (TOT) recently decided not to exercise options to acquire 12% and 5% of the pipeline, respectively. Projected construction costs have climbed to $12 billion from $7.5 billion. (Statoil is a member of my Jubak's Picks portfolio.)

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  But as each process is implemented, so too does the cost to extract oil increase. Today, every country in the Middle East is implementing some form of EOR to their oil fields. For some of the smaller countires, it has been in practice for years. Total (NYSE: TOT  ) has been using gas flooding in Abu Dhabi for more than 20 years. This is a telltale sign that the cost of extracting oil is getting more expensive for all players in the region.�

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  For instance, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM  ) , the world's largest publicly traded oil company, reported a 3.5% first-quarter decline in its total oil and natural gas production�from the same quarter a year ago, while French oil major Total SA (NYSE: TOT  ) said its production fell 2% in the�first quarter from year-ago levels.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  Whenever a business takes on a higher-risk project, it is always hoping for higher rewards. Based on the riskier projects that Total (NYSE: TOT  ) has taken on recently, the company must be expecting big rewards. Not only is it trying to navigate the murky political waters of shale drilling in Europe, but it is also trying to explore some parts of the world where estimates for oil and gas are few and far between.�

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: Aegon NV(AEG)

AEGON N.V. provides life insurance, pensions, and asset management products and services worldwide. The company?s life insurance products include traditional, term, universal, whole, and other life insurance products sold as part of defined benefit pension plans, endowment policies, post-retirement annuity products, and group risk products; supplemental health insurance products comprise accidental death, other injury, critical illness, hospital indemnity, medicare supplement, and student health; specialty lines consists of travel, membership, and creditor products; and long term care insurance products for policyholders who require care due to a chronic illness or cognitive impairment. It also offers a range of savings and retirement products and services, including mutual funds, and fixed and variable annuities, savings accounts and investment contracts, segregated funds, guaranteed investment accounts, and single premium immediate annuities, as well as investment advice to individuals. In addition, the company offers employer solutions and pensions, such as retirement plans, pension plans, and pension-related products and services; investment products, including onshore and offshore bonds, and trusts; reinsurance products and solutions to life insurance and financial services companies; general insurance products comprising house, car, and fire insurance; and asset management products and services, including general account assets, unit-linked funds, and third party activities. AEGON N.V. markets its products through independent and career agents, financial planners, registered representatives, independent marketing organizations, banks, broker-dealers, benefit consulting firms, wirehouses, affinity groups, institutional partners, independent managing general agencies, and specialized financial advisors, as well as through online, direct, and worksite marketing. The company was founded in 1900 and is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherl ands.

Top 5 European Stocks To Watch Right Now: British American Tobacco Industries p.l.c.(BTI)

British American Tobacco p.l.c., through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products. The company offers cigars, cigarettes, smokeless snus, roll-your-own, and pipe tobacco products under the Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Vogue, Viceroy, Kool, Rothmans, Peter Stuyvesant, Benson & Hedges, and State Express 555 brand names. It has operations in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, eastern and western Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom. British American Tobacco p.l.c. operates independently of Remgro Ltd. as of November 03, 2008.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jon Wallis]

  LONDON -- British American Tobacco� (LSE: BATS  ) (NYSE: BTI) -- the world's second-biggest cigarette maker -- is currently up more than 2% following this morning's interim management statement for the first quarter of 2013, in which the company reported revenue growth of 5% (on a constant current basis) despite difficult market conditions.

• [By GuruFocus]

  The decade low yield of tobacco stocks can be clearly seen from our new interactive charts, which are embedded below. The chart shows the dividend yield of three tobacco stocks: Reynolds American (RAI), Philip Morris International (PM) and British American Tobacco (BTI).

• [By Roland Head]

  LONDON -- Tobacco giants�British American Tobacco� (LSE: BATS  ) (NYSEMKT: BTI  ) and�Imperial Tobacco Group� (LSE: IMT  ) (NASDAQOTH: ITYBY  ) sell more than 1 trillion cigarettes every year.

• [By Rupert Hargreaves]

  Today I'm looking at British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS  ) (NYSEMKT: BTI  ) to determine whether the shares are still safe to buy at 3,663 pence.