Top Stocks For 3/3/2013-11

Gold American Mining Corp. (OTC.BB:SILA) has received the final ground geophysics report on its Guadalupe property and confirms that the recently concluded geophysics program has identified multiple potentially significant geophysical anomalies.

The geophysical survey was designed to test down to depths of 500 metres. The key results from the geophysics program are:

Magnetic susceptibility survey was successful in identifying the trace near the surface extensions of the known veins. The presence of additional parallel anomalies suggests the potential for additional veins that do not outcrop.
Induced Polarization anomalies indicate the potential for down dip extensions to the main veins within the property.
A potentially significant chargeability anomaly (Induced Polarization) occurs in the southern portion of the property in between the Santa Rosa and San Antonio Mines at depth starting at 400 m, which is below the known depth of these historically important mines.

�The final results and interpretation of the geophysics results on our Guadalupe property have given us very attractive drilling targets. We are in the process of acquiring firm bids from several qualified drilling contractors and initiating the permitting process for the next phase of exploration of this exciting project,� commented Johannes Petersen, President of Gold American. �Gold American is well on track to initiating drilling operations on Guadalupe during the fourth quarter of 2010,� added Mr. Petersen.

American Power Corp. (OTC.BB:TGMP) has retained Weir International Inc. of Downers Grove, Illinois (�Weir�) to prepare an exploration drilling program and to supervise the execution of that program, in order to evaluate the coal reserve potential on the Pace coal property in Judith Basin County, Montana.

Weir is an internationally recognized consulting firm that has provided engineering consulting services to the American and international mining and energy industries for over 75 years. Weir has prepared coal reserve reports for several established mining companies including BHP Billiton, the world�s largest mining company by market cap at $183bn, among many other major coal producers including Arch Coal Inc., publicly traded on the NYSE, and America�s second largest coal producer.

American Power Corp. is a publicly traded, dynamic energy company based in Denver, Colorado. The Company was established with the focus of acquiring near-term, large-scale coal projects in close proximity to national transportation links. American Power envisions developing its large coal resources to support electricity generation.

Kinross Gold Corporation(NYSE:KGC) and Red Back Mining Inc. have re-affirmed their strong commitment to completing a friendly combination of the two companies, and have rejected the recommendation contained in a report from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) on the transaction. The report is in contrast to the positive recommendation of Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC, a professional service firm that provides proxy research and voting recommendations to institutional investors.

The combination of Kinross and Red Back provides an exceptional opportunity for value creation, bringing the technical expertise and resources of Kinross to bear on developing and expanding Red Back’s Tasiast project, one of the world’s most exciting and promising gold properties. Kinross notes that the ISS report acknowledges that they were satisfied with the governance process. Kinross and Red Back believe that the ISS conclusions regarding valuation reflect a lack of technical understanding and knowledge of early-stage mining property valuation, and the potential to create value for shareholders by identifying and acquiring high-potential properties.

Kinross believes that the increase in Kinross’ and Red Back’s share price over recent days reflect growing shareholder understanding of the value and potential of this transaction, and confidence that the combination will be completed. Kinross believes that this confidence is based in part on the strong track record of its management team in creating value for shareholders in previous transactions, and its success in finding and developing new world-class gold properties globally.

Arch Coal, Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is the nation’s second largest coal producer. Through its national network of mines, Arch supplies the fuel for approximately 8 percent of the electricity generated in the United States. The company also ships coal to domestic and international steel manufacturers as well as international power producers

The Arch Coal Foundation is continuing to underwrite its education-support programs in four states, according to Deck Slone, Arch Coal, Inc. vice president and Arch Coal Foundation president.

The Foundation underwrites the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards program statewide in West Virginia and Wyoming and regionally in Utah. It also sponsors an innovative teaching grants program in Delta County, Colo.

The Teacher Achievement Awards program is West Virginia’s longest running, privately sponsored teacher recognition program. It is now in its 11th year in Wyoming and its fifth year in Utah. The Foundation’s Innovative Teaching Grants program in Colorado is in its fourth year.

BBRY: Evercore Ups Estimates, Despite Reservations, as Z10 Debuts in U.S.

Shares of BlackBerry (BBRY) are higher by 13 cents, or 0.8%, at $16.29, as the company’s Z10 handset, the first to run its new BB10 operating system, goes on sale at retail in the U.S. at AT&T — a Verizon Communications (VZ) unit is coming March 28th — and analysts try to gauge what it means for the company.

CNBC‘s correspondent, reporting from “An AT&T store” somewhere in Manhattan, noted 12 units had been sold there so far today, while adding that the device has also been on offer through pre-sales, and so “some sales may be arriving the in mail.”

The debut is causing some to raise numbers. Mark McKechnie with Evercore Partners today reiterates an Underweight rating and an $8 price target, but he also raised his February fiscal Q4 estimate to $2.9 billion in revenue and a net loss of just 16 cents versus a prior estimate of $2.8 billion and a 23-cent loss, on sales of 1.2 million BB10 handsets, up from 1 million previously.

For this quarter, his estimate goes $3.3 billion and a 7-cent loss from a prior $3 billion and a 19-cent loss. That’s on sales of 3.2 million BB10-based handsets, up from his prior 2.6 million estimate.

McKechnie thinks there will be no concrete signs of how the Z10 is doing for another couple months: “We expect the stock to remain volatile into the U.S. launch of its Z10/Q10 models and suspect the quarter and outlook will be “OK” on the channel fill with no real end-market demand reads until later in the May quarter.”

Tavis McCourt of Raymond James reiterates a Market Perform rating and a “valuation range” of $7 to $17, based on his “sum of the parts” model. McCourt thinks the company sold 1 million BB10 devices in the fiscal Q4 ending last month, at an average price of $450, and 8 million devices for the quarter in total. His financial estimate is higher than McKechnie’s, at $3 billion in revenue and a 17-cent loss.

As for the U.S., it’s a tough market, he observes, despite record initial sales in Canada:

AT&T has announced that it will launch the Z10 on March 22 with Verizon following soon after on March 28. Sprint will not carry the Z10 and wait till the Q10 launch in June. We believe BBRY�s launch in the strategically important US market will run into intense competition as Samsung, Apple, HTC and Nokia refresh their line-ups.

McCourt thinks it would be good if the company could offer a BB10 device that’s lower cost, like the existing “Curve” line of BlackBerrys:

According to Gartner, BBRY�s emerging market shipments declined -33% y/y and -20% q/q for C4Q12, a worrisome sign given that emerging markets have been BBRY�s biggest subscriber growth driver in recent times. We think a BB10 Curve would give BBRY a competitive boost in emerging markets, but there has been no word yet on a BB10 Curve. In a recent interview, a European BBRY MD was quoted as saying that entry level tier BB10 won�t arrive until next year.

Here’s McCourt’s chart of how the smartphone competition is shaping up at the moment (click for larger image):

Top Stocks For 3/23/2013-1

General Electric Company NYSE: GE advanced by 3.22% to close at $16.66 with the over all traded volume of 85.03 million shares for the day. Its earning per share remained 1.01. General Electric Company (GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company. The Company�s products and services include aircraft engines, power generation, water processing, security technology, medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products. The Company serves customers in more than 100 countries. The Company operates through five segments: Energy Infrastructure, Technology Infrastructure, NBC Universal (NBCU), Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial. In March 2009, Teleflex Incorporated completed the sale of its 51% share of Airfoil Technologies International – Singapore Pte. Ltd., to GE. In September 2009, the Company sold its 81% interest in Homeland Protection business to Safran SA. In September 2009, the Company acquired ScanWind.

Gerdau SA (ADR) NYSE: GGB declined by 4.69% to close at $13.40 with the over all traded volume of 13.04 million shares for the day. Its earning per share remained 1.03. Gerdau S.A. (Gerdau) is a producer of long rolled steel. Gerdau operates steel mills that produce steel by direct iron-ore reduction (DRI) in blast furnaces and in electric arc furnaces (EAF). In Brazil it operates four integrated steel mills, including its mill, Ouro Branco unit, an integrated steel mill located in the state of Minas Gerais. The Company has a total of 59 steel producing units globally, including joint ventures and associate companies. The joint ventures include a unit located in the United States for the production of flat rolled steel and another unit in India. The associate companies are Aceros Corsa S.A. de C.V. (Aceros Corsa) in Mexico, Corporacion Centroamericana del Acero S.A. (Corporacion Centroamericana del Acero) in Guatemala and Industrias Nacionales (INCA) in the Dominican Republic.

Halliburton Company NYSE: HAL advanced by 2.92% to close at $32.73 with the over all traded volume of 14.00 million shares for the day. Its earning per share remained 1.33. Halliburton Company provides a variety of services and products to customers in the energy industry related to the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas. The Company serves oil and natural gas companies throughout the world and operates under two segments: the Completion and Production segment, and the Drilling and Evaluation segment. It conducts business worldwide in approximately 70 countries.

Best Stocks To Invest In 3/23/2013-2

PURE, PURE Bioscience, Inc.

PURE is advising its institutional and household customers of the effectiveness of PURE(TM) Hard Surface disinfectant in killing various flu viruses, and emphasizing the product�s 24-hour residual protection capability.

PURE recommends using PURE Hard Surface disinfectant and food contact surface sanitizer on all high-touch surfaces, including hand rails, banisters, handles, light switches, doorknobs, telephones, tabletops, chairs, remote controls, and appliances as well as on office, manufacturing and technical equipment.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and various state health agencies, the early arriving 2012-2013 flu season is resulting in increased illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths with an intensity not seen for a decade, with 44 states experiencing widespread influenza. Hospitals are overwhelmed and several metropolitan areas have declared health emergencies.

PURE Hard Surface�s efficacy against viruses exceeds that of even highly toxic chemicals, yet it is a fume-free EPA Category IV (least-toxic) product ideal for use near children, individuals with respiratory challenges and in dense population environments.

PURE develops and markets technology-based bioscience products that provide solutions to numerous global health challenges, including Staph (MRSA).

More about PURE at www.purebio.com.

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Opinion: Best of the Web Today: Revenge of the Nerds

(Best of the tube tonight: Catch us on "Lou Dobbs Tonight," 7 p.m. ET on Fox Business, with repeat showings at 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.) "Have you ever had a group of men sitting right behind you making joke [sic] that caused you to feel uncomfortable?" wrote blogress Adria Richards Monday. "Well, that just happened this week but instead of shrinking down in my seat, I did something about it an [sic] here's my story�.�.�."

A richly entertaining story it is. It seems that Richards, a "developer evangelist" for a company called SendGrid, was at a conference called PyCon, which describes itself as "the largest annual gathering for the community using and developing the open-source Python programming language." That is, it was a convocation of computer nerds.

Sunday night she tweeted a photograph of two young men in the audience, with the comment: "Not cool. Jokes about forking repo's in a sexual way and 'big' dongles. Right behind me."

She wasn't done. Two minutes later she tweeted: "Can someone talk to these guys about their conduct?" and indicated where she was sitting. Six minutes after that, she tweeted a link to the PyCon Code of Conduct, which explains that the conference "is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone" and that "sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue."

The PyCon twitter account responded 24 minutes after that: "Thank you @adriarichards for bringing the inappropriate comments to our attention. We've dealt with the situation." The conference later reported on its website: "Both parties were met with, in private. The comments that were made were in poor taste, and individuals involved agreed, apologized and no further actions were taken by the staff of PyCon 2013. No individuals were removed from the conference, no sanctions were levied."

Richards wrote nearly 2,000 words about this tempest-in-a-teapot. She explained that the jokers were emboldened by "deindividuation" and quoted the Wikipedia definition: "a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the losing of self-awareness in groups." Added Richards: "It very much reminded me of Lord of the Flies. I decided to put out the fire at the base."

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She further complained that "the stuff about the dongles wasn't even logical and as a self professed nerd, that bothered me. Dongles are intended to be small and unobtrusive. They're intended for network connectivity and to service as physical licence keys for software."

Our guess is that the boys were making a pun based on the word's similarity to the name of Vietnam's currency. But that got us to brainstorming logical dongle jokes. So far we've come up with two:

"Is that a dongle in your pocket, or are you not especially happy to see me?"

How many feminists does it take to plug in a dongle? That's NOT funny.

As for "forking repos," here's what the term means, according to Atlassian.com: "Forking is a way for you to clone a repository at a specific point, and to modify it from there. To fork is just another way of saying clone." Surprisingly, it escaped Richards's notice that sexual jokes about forking are illogical too, since cloning is an asexual means of reproduction.

According to ArsTechnica.com, however, one of the guys involved, who goes by "the Hacker News name 'mr-hank,'�" denied the forking-joke allegation: "The developers were discussing the process of forking code bases, not making sexual jokes, he said. 'While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece [of] hardware that identified as male, no sexual jokes were made about forking,' he wrote."

It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. And mr-hank, according to ArsTechnica, did get hurt: He was "fired by his employer, PlayHaven, which said the inappropriate comments were contrary to the company's dedication to gender equality. .�.�. The other developer making jokes, Alex Reid, was not fired."

But mr-hank wasn't the only one to lose a job to the dongle kerfuffle. In a Facebook post (since deleted) SendGrid announced it had given Richards the ax. CEO Jim Franklin later explained in a blog post: "SendGrid supports the right to report inappropriate behavior, whenever and wherever it occurs. What we do not support was how she reported the conduct. Her decision to tweet the comments and photographs of the people who made the comments crossed the line."

Our sympathies lie with Reid and mr-hank. Their jokes, while juvenile, were innocuous, whereas Richards displayed a self-importance verging on grandiosity. "Yesterday the future of programming was on the line and I made myself heard," she wrote at the close of her blog post.

But there is an argument to be made on the other side: The jokes while innocuous, were juvenile, and inappropriate for a professional setting in which some people--particularly including women--may have more delicate sensibilities.

Keep that argument in mind as you read this March�7 story from TheCollegeFix.com:

Nearly a dozen billboard-sized photos of vaginas in various states � including shaved ones, others that are blemished, and still some with tampons inserted--are slated for display today and tomorrow at the University of Cincinnati as part of a student-sponsored "Re-Envisioning the Female Body" exhibit.The female genitalia photos are in direct retaliation to an anti-abortion display hosted by prolife students at the university last May that included graphic images of aborted fetuses, its organizers state.�.�.�."Re-Envisioning the Female Body" is hosted by the university's LGBTQ Alliance and UC Feminists student groups and showcased at the school's McMicken Commons, an outdoor "free speech" area at the center of campus with grassy knolls and several student walkways.

That display undoubtedly was protected by the First Amendment; its political content would shield it from an obscenity prosecution. But it was in atrocious taste, and it was designed to be. No one should accept feminists in the role of taste police, at least until they set up a robust internal affairs division.

Who'll Check the Checkers? The "assault weapons" ban having failed, antigun Democrats are still hoping to enact legislation requiring all gun purchasers to pass a background check. Currently, federally licensed dealers are required to check prospective purchasers, but individuals selling guns privately have no such burden.

"There's no coherent policy argument against expanding background checks," argues Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent. "That's why opponents continually resort to the false claim that expanding background checks will create a 'national gun registry,' when the law explicitly prohibits that outcome."

What about privacy? Currently access to the FBI's background check system is limited to licensed firearms dealers, who have an incentive not to abuse it lest they lose their license. If it's opened up to all prospective sellers of guns--that is, to everybody--what's to prevent someone from abusing it, say by requesting a background check on Greg Sargent, who presumably has no interest in acquiring a gun?

The system only gives a yes-or-no answer as to whether the putative buyer is eligible to own firearms under federal law. But if you're looking to dig up dirt on someone, a "no" answer on a firearms background check would give you a nice clump of it.

Attainder? I Barely Knew Her! "A group of House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a bill that would prevent the term 'Redskins' from being trademarked, a move intended to put pressure on the Washington football club to change its name," TheHill.com reports:

The Non-Disparagement of American Indians in Trademark Registrations Act of 2013 is co-sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and comes days after a federal trademark panel heard arguments over whether the team name was a slur. The panel could potentially overturn the team's trademark, which would erode profits by allowing other businesses to sell apparel and goods featuring the Redskins name.

It's one thing if that panel, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, holds that the Redskins trademark violates generally applicable law. It's quite another for Congress to enact legislation stripping a trademark from a particular holder.

Remember when Congress banned federal funding for Acorn and the group, along with media lefties like Rachel Maddow, argued it was a bill of attainder, a law designed to punish a particular wrong, properly a judicial function?

Acorn lost the argument in court, on the grounds that Congress had to have the authority to refuse to fund an organization with a record of bad management, and that the withholding of appropriations is not a traditional form of punishment. But how can anyone argue that a law punishing the Redskins for giving offense by stripping a trademark would be anything other than a bill of attainder?

We Blame George W. Bush "1 in 10 U.S. Deaths Blamed on Salt"--headline, ABCNews.com, March�21

We Blame Global Warming "Plywood Becomes Hot Item in Housing Recovery"--headline, The Wall Street Journal, March�22

What Would We Do Without Experts? "Expert: Malfunction Caused Outage"--headline, Associated Press, March�21

'Zionist Occupiers Stole Our Shoes!' "Obama to Israelis: Put Yourselves in the Palestinians' Shoes"--headline, HotAir.com, March�21

Somebody Alert Mayor Bloomberg "Universe as an Infant: Fatter Than Expected and Kind of Lumpy"--headline, New York Times, March�22

Life Imitates the Onion

• "Punxsutawney Phil Beheaded for Inaccurate Prediction on Annual Groundhog Slaughtering Day"--headline, Onion, March�18
• "Ohio Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty for Punxsutawney Phil After Bad Forecast"--headline, Washington Post website, March�21

The Police Advised Her of Her Right to Remain Silent "UGA Student Assaulted by Woman Dressed Like Mime"--headline, Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, March�21

Who Squealed? "New Yorkers Boldly Flout Law to Keep Pigs"--headline, Associated Press, March�22

Hey, Kids! What Time Is It?

• "Time to Banish Perpetually Offended Elements in Society"--headline, Belfast Telegraph, March�21
• "Susan J. Demas: It's Time to Start Talking About Poverty and Income Inequality"--headline, MLive.com (Michigan), March�21

Questions Nobody Is Asking

• "Bibi and Obama in Love?"--headline, TheDailyBeast.com, March�22
• "John Kerry to the Rescue?"--headline, TheDailyBeast.com, March�21
• "Will the U.S. Senate Stand Up for Our Future?"--headline, Puffington Host, March�22

Question and Answer--I

• "Where's Luca Brasi When You Need Him?"--headline, AnnCoulter.com, March�20
• "Fish Stocks Rebound Under Federal Plan"--headline, StarNews (Wilmington, N.C.), March�22

Question and Answer--II "WhyLeaveAstoria.com Founder Leaves Astoria"--headline, Daily News (New York), March�21

It's Always in the Last Place You Look "Guns, Dope, Naked Women Allegedly Found During Club Raid"--headline, KVUE-TV website (Austin, Texas), March�20

Someone Set Up Us the Bomb "Is Google Keep Better Than a Post-It?"--headline, TechnologyReview.com, March�21

Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out of Control "MSNBC Panel Praises O'Reilly for Slamming Michelle Bachmann, Highlight Network's Own Timidity"--headline, Mediaite.com, March�21

News of the Oxymoronic "Ashton Kutcher: People Underestimate My Intellect"--headline, Yahoo! TV, March�22

News You Can Use "Penn Research: Quitting Marshmallow Test Can Be a Rational Decision"--headline, University of Pennsylvania press release, March�20

Bottom Story of the Day "On the Moon, NASA Probe Sees Where Sun Never Shines"--headline, Space.com, March�21

Please Passover the Whiskey The New York Times reports on a meshugas in Brooklyn that started with a hortatory announcement from the Prospect Park Alliance:

The message included a not-too-subtle hint that it was aimed for a narrower audience: "As Passover approaches, Prospect Park is reaching out to the public regarding the removal of chametz (e.g. bread and other leavened products) from the home."That language--and the implication that observant Jews were the ones causing problems by feeding the geese--has provoked an unexpected confusion and outrage from some Jewish leaders, including one who called the message "an affront" and "a disgrace." Several rabbis said they were simply puzzled by why such a release was necessary, since throwing bread into the water is not a pre-Passover custom and only a few Jews might have individually chosen to do so."It disrespects an entire community," said Gary Schlesinger, director of United Jewish Community Advocacy Relations and Enrichment, a social service organization for the Satmar Hasidim in Williamsburg. "It's not even permitted that way. You have to burn it, or give it away. You don't put it into a lake."

But PPA head Paul Nelson said that hundreds of Brooklynites had in fact been observed throwing bread in the water in the days before Passover: "When asked, they said they were disposing of their bread products in preparation for Passover and thought they were doing a good thing by feeding it to the waterfowl."

Of course spirits distilled from grain are also considered chametz and thus prohibited during Passover. So a good test of the the bread-throwers' sincerity is whether any of them are also giving the Prospect Park geese whiskey.

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(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Tom Jackson, Rick Wiesehan, Sham Singh, Donald Walker, Howard Portnoy, Todd Lemmon, Eric Jensen, Michele Schiesser, William Thode, T. Young, Joe Clancy, James Benenson, Doug Helferich, David Hallstrom, Brian Dawson, Shawn Turk, Zack Russ, Bob Acker, John Sanders, Jarrett Skorup, Irene DeBlasio, Ethel Fenig, Richard Wong, John Bobek, Mark Van Der Molen, Miguel Rakiewicz and Patrick Harrigan. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)

Top 25 401(k)s for NYC-Based Companies: Where Are the Big Banks?

The NHL pension plan for U.S. clubs is one of the best plans on the list.

Like everything else in New York, BrightScope’s latest list of the area’s top 25 401(k) plans is seriously competitive—so competitive, in fact, that a surprising number of big banks, brokerages and asset management firms dropped off this year’s list.

With an average account balance of $303,634 and a 98.06% average participation rate this year, the best 401(k) plans in New York did well enough that a majority of the plans that BrightScope ranked below ninth place in 2012 did not appear on the 2013 list.

So say goodbye to AllianceBernstein, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Securities and OppenheimerFunds.

Yet the news isn’t all bad for the big banks, said Brooks Herman, BrightScope’s head of research. They’re simply a victim of other New York-based companies’ success in putting together outstanding 401(k) plans that include great account balances, participation rates, total plan cost, company generosity and salary deferrals.

"The New York City-based finance companies actually did quite well on this year's list. Eight of the companies on the list are in the financial services industry,” Herman said in an email. “Even though big companies like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock did not make it on this year's list, their individual ratings did improve.”

Goldman Sachs' rating increased this year to 85.7 out of a possible 100 from 85.2 last year, BlackRock's rating increased to 84.5 from 84.4 and Morgan Stanley’s increased to 85.1 from 84. (Read Top 25 Finance Company 401(k) Plans: BrightScope at AdvisorOne for a listing of the best plans nationwide.)

“The newcomers to this year's list were represented by high scores from the law industry, which pushed companies like Goldman Sachs and BlackRock off the list,” Herman explained.

The lowest rating on the 2013 Top 25 list was 86.39 versus 84 in 2012, according to BrightScope, which has released the results of New York’s top retirement plans for three years in a row. The San Diego-based investment research firm offers assessments of retirement plans and financial advisors in its online directories.

“It is indicative to see so many new companies on this year’s New York City top plans list,” said Dan Weeks, co-founder of BrightScope, in a statement. “These employers are paying attention to the retirement benefits they offer and have made huge strides recently to offer more robust plans to employees.”

Keep reading to find out which NYC-based companies made it onto BrightScope’s 2013 list of top 25 401(k) plans.

Top 25 New York City-based 401(k) Plans From BrightScope

Including rating score out of a possible 100 points, number of active participants, total value of plan assets and top funds in the company’s 401(k).

25. Ford Foundation—Ford Foundation Retirement Plan—This philanthropic organization has a rating of 86.39 points, more than 300 active participants, $235 million in plan assets and 32 investment options with top three funds as follows: TIAA-CREF Traditional Annuity (40%), TIAA-CREF Stock (29%), TIAA-CREF Global Equities (4%).

24. Ernst & Young U.S.—Ernst & Young Partnership Retirement Plan—This big accounting firm has a rating of 86.55 points, more than 4,400 active participants, $1.3 billion in plan assets and 20 investment options with top three funds as follows: BlackRock US Equity Market Index (30%), BlackRock ACWI Ex-US SuperFund (8%), Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (8%).

23. Hoffmann-La Roche—The Roche Savings and Pay Deferral Plan—This health care manufacturer has a rating of 86.58 points, more than 9,500 active participants, $1.5 billion in plan assets and 32 investment options with top three funds as follows: Fidelity Growth Company (14%), BlackRock Equity Index (9%), SSgA Sub-Advised Guaranteed Investment Contracts (9%).

22. BASF Corp.—BASF Corporation Retirement Savings Plan—This chemical manufacturer has a rating of 86.58 points, more than 18,400 active participants, $2.8 billion in plan assets and 25 investment options with top three funds as follows: BASF Stable Value Fund (30%), Vanguard PRIMECAP (10%), Vanguard Institutional Index (6%).

21. Bessemer Trust Co.—Bessemer Trust Company 401(k) and Profit Sharing Plan—This commercial banking firm has a rating of 86.63 points, more than 800 active participants, $172 million in plan assets and 10 investment options with top three funds as follows: Bessemer Trust Fixed Income No. 4 (20%), Bessemer Trust Large Cap Equity No. 3 (16%), Cash and Cash Equivalents (12%). 20. Swiss Re America Holding Corp.—Swiss Re Group US Employees' Savings Plan—This global reinsurer has a rating of 86.65 points, more than 4,200 active participants, $502 million in plan assets and 22 investment options with top three funds as follows: JPMorgan Stable Value Fund (15%), Vanguard Institutional Index (14%), PIMCO Total Return (14%).

19. Jennison Associates—Jennison Associates Savings Plan—This law firm has a rating of 86.67 points, more than 300 active participants, $103 million in plan assets and 37 investment options with top three funds as follows: Harbor Capital Appreciation (15%), Prudential Guaranteed Income Fund (11%), Harbor International (7%).

18. IBM (International Business Machines)—IBM 401(k) Plus Plan—This technology company has a rating of 86.71 points, more than 203,800 active participants, $37.6 billion in plan assets and 26 investment options with top three funds as follows: Total Guaranteed Investment Contracts (28%), Vanguard Employee Benefit Index Fund (10%), IBM Mutual Fund Window (9%).

17. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom—Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Retirement Plan—This law firm has a rating of 86.86 points, more than 600 active participants, $425 million in plan assets and 21 investment options with top three funds as follows: Total Common Stocks (26%), Total Other Investments (13%), PIMCO All Asset (11%).

16. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.—Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Savings and Investment Program—This pharmaceutical company has a rating of 87.01 points, more than 23,300 active participants, $3.5 billion in plan assets and 26 investment options with top three funds as follows: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. common stock (20%), Northern Trust Galliard Fixed Income (19%), Fidelity Growth Company (11%). 15. Emergency Medical Associates—401(k) Profit Sharing Plan for Employees of EMX, LP – This physicians' office has a rating of 87.14 points, more than 800 active participants, $110 million in plan assets and 26 investment options with top three funds as follows: Vanguard Balanced Index (14%), Charles Schwab Stable Value Fund (11%), Vanguard Total International Stock Index (11%).

14. Eisai Corp. of North America—The Eisai Retirement Plan—This medical manufacturer has a rating of 87.19 points, more than 3,200 active participants, $308 million in plan assets and 27 investment options with top three funds as follows: Fidelity Mid-Cap Stock (10%), Fidelity Managed Income Portfolio (9%), PIMCO Total Return (9%).

13. D.E. Shaw & Co.—D.E. Shaw & Co. L.P. 401(k) Plan—This hedge fund has a rating of 87.22 points, more than 900 active participants, $105 million in plan assets and 34 investment options with top three funds as follows: Vanguard 500 Index (18%), Vanguard Total International Stock Index (13%), Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (11%).

12. Shearman & Sterling LLP—Shearman & Sterling LLP Partners Retirement Plan—This law firm has a rating of 87.23 points, more than 300 active participants, $220 million in plan assets and 16 investment options with top three funds as follows: Dodge & Cox Income (18%), Total Common Stocks (13%), Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (12%).

11. TD Securities USA—The TD Wholesale Banking USA 401(k) Plan—This broker-dealer has a rating of 87.39 points, more than 900 active participants, $110 million in plan assets and 27 investment options with top three funds as follows: T. Rowe Price Stable Value Fund (12%), T. Rowe Price Equity Index Trust (7%), T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation (7%). 10. Credit Suisse Securities USA—Employees Savings and Retirement Plan of Credit Suisse —This broker-dealer has a rating of 88.31 points, more than 22,000 active participants, $2.6 billion in plan assets and 64 investment options with top three funds as follows: Fidelity Managed Income Portfolio (14%), Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth (9%), Vanguard Russell 3000 Index (7%).

9. Weil, Gotshal & Manges—Weil, Gotshal & Manges Partners' Target Pension Plan—This law firm has a rating of 88.40 points, more than 300 active participants, $130 million in plan assets and 17 investment options with top three funds as follows: Total Hedge Funds (18%), Walter Scott & Partners Limited Group Trust International Fund (8%), Genesis Emerging Markets (7%).

8. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan—Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP Retirement Plan and Trust for Partners—This law firm as a rating of 88.91 points, more than 200 active participants, $127 million in plan assets and 12 investment options with top three funds as follows: Total Common Stocks (60%), Total US Government Securities (11%), iShares Core Total US Bond Market (7%).

7. Assured Guaranty Corp.—Assured Guaranty Corp. Employee Retirement Plan—This insurance firm has a rating of 89.37 points, more than 500 active participants, $104 million in plan assets and 30 investment options with top three funds as follows: MainStay Large Cap Growth (16%), BlackRock FFI Institutional (15%), BlackRock S&P 500 Index (12%).

6. General Re Corp.—Employee Savings & Stock Ownership Plan of General Re Corporation and Its Domestic Subsidiaries—This life and health reinsurer has a rating of 89.39 points, more than 2,200 active participants, $893 million in plan assets and 31 investment options with top three funds as follows: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. common stock (56%), Fidelity Retirement Government Money Market (5%), Fidelity Growth Company (5%). 5. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP—Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Supplemental Profit Sharing Plan for Partners—This law firm has a rating of 89.89, more than 200 active participants, $104 million in plan assets and 24 investment options with top three funds as follows: Fidelity Fixed Income Fund (23%), Fidelity Spartan 500 Index (16%), Fidelity Contrafund (12%).

4. Board of Trustees of NHL Pension Plan For Players of US Member Clubs—National Hockey League Pension Plan for Players of United States Member Clubs—The NHL has a rating of 90.19 points, more than 2,000 active participants, $222 million in plan assets and 22 investment options with top three funds as follows: T. Rowe Price Retirement 2035 (18%), T. Rowe Price Retirement 2040 (17%), T. Rowe Price Retirement 2030 (12%).

3. PMI Global Services Inc.—Philip Morris International Deferred Profit-Sharing Plan—This cigarette manufacturer has a rating of 90.24 points, more than 500 active participants, $241 million in plan assets and 13 investment options with top three funds as follows: Philip Morris International Inc. common stock (29%), BNY Mellon Stable Value Fund (19%), Vanguard Institutional Index (15%).

2. National Basketball Association—NBA-NBPA 401(k) Savings Plan—The NBA has a rating of 91.91 points, more than 700 active participants, $152 million in plan assets and 20 investment options with top three funds as follows: ING Stable Value Fund (26%), Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 (22%), Vanguard Institutional Index (9%).

1. Sullivan & Cromwell—Retirement Plan of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP—This law firm has a rating of 92.55 points, with more than 100 active participants, $137 million in plan assets and 11 investment options with top three funds as follows: total limited partnerships (44%), Vanguard Institutional Index (15%), Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (7%)

CTXS, CRM, N, NOW, EQIX Tops in Cloud, Says FBN

FBN Securities‘s Shebly Seyrafi today initiated coverage of cloud computing stocks in a massive (146 pages) note to clients, giving Outperform ratings to Citrix Systems (CTXS), Salesforce.com (CRM), Netsuite (N), ServiceNow (NOW), Equinix (EQIX), and Akamai Technologies (AKAM), while rating VMware (VMW), Concur Technologies (CNQR),�RackSpace Hosting (RAX) and Workday (WDAY) all Sector Perform.

Seyrafi writes that all ten companies are “true cloud companies,” unlike some that have been accused of “cloudwashing.” He sees the market as a convergence of “the four major technology trends today,” namely, “cloud, Big Data, mobility, and social.”

Seyrafi cites data from Gartner that shows a wide disparity in how much of enterprise technology today has been converted to cloud-based offerings. Customer relationship management, for example, is about 39% cloud as of the end of 2012, going to 42% this year. For enterprise resource planning, on the other hand, it is just 10% of the total workload last year, moving to 12% this year.

There’s also a wide disparity in total estimates for the market, but a shared view among most observers that cloud computing is rising swiftly, he writes:

In September 2012, Gartner predicted that the worldwide cloud services market will surpass $112B in 2012 and grow to $207B in 2016. IDC predicted that the public cloud IT service market would be $40B in 2012 and approach $100B by 2016, so there are wide differences in opinions and definitions here. The largest segment for Gartner is BPaaS (business process as a service), which was estimated to grow to $84.2B (77% of the cloud services market; 45% growth) in 2012. The large size here was mostly due to the inclusion of cloud advertising (47% of the public cloud market). SaaS was expected to grow to $14.4B in 2012, while IaaS was expected to grow to $6.2B in 2012; Gartner predicted that by 2016 the IaaS market would be larger than the SaaS market. The PaaS market was expected to grow to $1.2B in 2012.

Within cloud “infrastructure software,” Seyrafi likes Citrix, giving it an $85 price target, citing the “XenDesktop” product, which is now around 60% of all “Mobile & Desktop” revenue for the company. He thinks VMware offers “key pieces of the software-defined data center puzzle” but that “Still, we think that it is too early to invest in VMW as there are multiple near-term challenges (increasing saturation of server virtualization, less momentum in the US/EMEA, ELA benefits expected to be back-end loaded in F2013) and valuation appears full at the current time.”

In software-as-a-service companies, he likes Salesforce’s efforts to “diversifies away from its core sales force automation (SFA)/sales cloud into service, marketing, and platform clouds.” Seyrafi writes Salesforce is number two in total customer relationship sales, behind SAP (SAP), having “eclipsed Oracle (ORCL) recently,” and “it may displace SAP to earn #1 spot this year.” Seyrafi gives the stock a $210 price target. ServiceNow, which offers hosted IT “operations management,” can expand into “new areas like platform and hybrid cloud.” He gives the shares a $45 price target. With respect to NetSuite, he likes how the company is gaining share in ERP, where “there is limited pure-play competition,” and he gives the stock an $85 price target.

Among “cloud data center” companies, he likes Equinix’s breadth of geographic locations around the world, the “stickiness” it is engendering among customers, and the payoff from its expected conversion to a real estate investment trust: “the expected conversion of the company to a REIT (by 2015) should result in much lower taxes starting in 2015 and in a large distribution ($700M-$1.1B, ~20% of which is cash, the rest in stock) to shareholders, with most of this expected to take place before 2015.” Seyrafi has a $270 price target on Equinix.

 

 

 

Arbor Realty Trust Prices Share Issue

Arbor Realty Trust (NYSE: ABR  ) has priced its upcoming stock issue. The company will sell the 5.625 million common shares it's floating at $8.00 apiece in the form of common stock in an underwritten public flotation. Additionally, the company's underwriters have been granted a 30-day purchase option for an additional 843,750 shares.

Arbor said it plans to use the proceeds of the offering for "investments, to repurchase or pay liabilities and for general corporate purposes."�

Deutsche Bank's eponymous Securities unit is the sole book-running manager for the issue, while JMP Securities is its lead manager.

Lattice: Baird Cuts Rating After Disappointing Q3 Results

Baird analyst Tristan Gerra this morning cut his rating on Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) to Neutral from Outperform, trimming his price target to $5, from $8.

The downgrade follows yesterday’s weak Q3 results from the chip maker, with revenue and profits both missing Street expectations. Lattice is projecting Q4 revenues will be down 2%-7% sequentially.

Gerra notes that the guidance suggests a third consecutive quarter in which the company will under-perform rivals Altera (ALTR) and Xilinx (XLNX). He thinks the biggest issue for the maker of field programmable gate arrays is that it has more limited R&D resources than its rivals, “resulting in a wider gap between new FPGA family introductions than the competition.”

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Lipacis issued a “tactical” buy rating on the stock, asserting that the stock should outperform the overall chip industry over the next 60 days. “This is because the stock has traded off recently, making short term valuation much more compelling,” he writes, adding that with $2 a share in cash, downside in the stock is limited.

LSCC is down 11 cents, or 2.5%, to $4.35; the stock is down 15% over the last four days.

Cyprus Banks to Remain Closed Another 2 Days

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- Cyprus' banks will remain closed Thursday and Friday as officials try to find a new plan to stave off bankruptcy.

Aliki Stylianou, the central bank's spokeswoman, confirmed the additional two-day closure on Wednesday. The cash-strapped lenders have been closed since Saturday to avoid a bank run.

The Parliament this week rejected a plan to take a portion of bank deposits. That has left Cypriot officials looking for alternative ways to scrounge up some 5.8 billion euros ($7.51 billion) that the country's euro area partners and the IMF expect in order to loan another 10 billion euros.

The money is needed to shore up the ailing banks and government finances. Cypriot authorities kept banks closed in order to avoid a run on the lenders.

The Unappreciated Awesomeness at PetSmart

It takes money to make money. Most investors know that, but with business media so focused on the "how much," very few investors bother to ask, "How fast?"

When judging a company's prospects, how quickly it turns cash outflows into cash inflows can be just as important as how much profit it's booking in the accounting fantasy world we call "earnings." This is one of the first metrics I check when I'm hunting for the market's best stocks. Today, we'll see how it applies to PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM  ) .

Let's break this down
In this series, we measure how swiftly a company turns cash into goods or services and back into cash. We'll use a quick, relatively foolproof tool known as the cash conversion cycle, or CCC for short.

Why does the CCC matter? The less time it takes a firm to convert outgoing cash into incoming cash, the more powerful and flexible its profit engine is. The less money tied up in inventory and accounts receivable, the more available to grow the company, pay investors, or both.

To calculate the cash conversion cycle, add days inventory outstanding to days sales outstanding, then subtract days payable outstanding. Like golf, the lower your score here, the better. The CCC figure for PetSmart for the trailing 12 months is 42.1.

For younger, fast-growth companies, the CCC can give you valuable insight into the sustainability of that growth. A company that's taking longer to make cash may need to tap financing to keep its momentum. For older, mature companies, the CCC can tell you how well the company is managed. Firms that begin to lose control of the CCC may be losing their clout with their suppliers (who might be demanding stricter payment terms) and customers (who might be demanding more generous terms). This can sometimes be an important signal of future distress -- one most investors are likely to miss.

In this series, I'm most interested in comparing a company's CCC to its prior performance. Here's where I believe all investors need to become trend-watchers. Sure, there may be legitimate reasons for an increase in the CCC, but all things being equal, I want to see this number stay steady or move downward over time.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FY = fiscal year. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Because of the seasonality in some businesses, the CCC for the TTM period may not be strictly comparable to the fiscal-year periods shown in the chart. Even the steadiest-looking businesses on an annual basis will experience some quarterly fluctuations in the CCC. To get an understanding of the usual ebb and flow at PetSmart, consult the quarterly-period chart below.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Dollar amounts in millions. FQ = fiscal quarter.

On a 12-month basis, the trend at PetSmart looks good. At 42.1 days, it is 2.8 days better than the five-year average of 44.8 days. The biggest contributor to that improvement was DIO, which improved 3.3 days compared to the five-year average. That was partially offset by a 0.3-day increase in DPO.

Considering the numbers on a quarterly basis, the CCC trend at PetSmart looks good. At 39.0 days, it is 2.8 days better than the average of the past eight quarters. With both 12-month and quarterly CCC running better than average, PetSmart gets high marks in this cash-conversion checkup.

Though the CCC can take a little work to calculate, it's definitely worth watching every quarter. You'll be better informed about potential problems, and you'll improve your odds of finding underappreciated home run stocks.

Selling to fickle consumers is a tough business for PetSmart or anyone else in the space. But some companies are better equipped to face the future than others. In a new report, we'll give you the rundown on three companies that are setting themselves up to dominate retail. Click here for instant access to this free report.

• Add PetSmart to My Watchlist.

Top Stocks To Buy For 3/13/2013-1

WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE:WCG) recently hit 52 week peak price $35.22, opened at $34.35 scored +2.49% closed $35.01. WCG traded on over 1.22 million shares in comparison to average volume of 0.526 million shares.

WCG has earnings of $-68.40 million and made $5.71 billion sales for the last 12 months. Its quarter to quarter sales remained -16.76%. The company has 42.54 million of outstanding shares and 41.00 million shares were floated in the market.

WCG has an insider ownership at 0.72% and institutional ownership remained 93.71%. Its return on assets (ROA) for the last 12 month was -3.22% as compare to its return on equity (ROE) of -8.24% for the last 12 months.

The price moved ahead +11.71% from the mean of 20 days, +15.80% from 50 and went up 25.40% from 200 days average price. Company�s performance for the week was 12.32%, +11.96% for month and yearly performance remained 10.37%.

Its price volatility for a month remained 3.58% whereas volatility for a week noted as 4.31% having beta of 1.85. Company�s price to sales ratio for last 12 months was 0.26 while its price to book ratio for the most recent quarter was 1.86 and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) remained 144.22 million for the past twelve months.

Top Stocks For 2/6/2013-2

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PWRM, Power3 Medical Products, Inc., PWRM.OB

Alzheimer’s disease is among the most well known form of dementia, a broad term when it comes to forgetfulness and other intellectual abilities critical enough to obstruct everyday life. Alzheimer’s diseases is the reason for 50 to seventy per cent of dementia cases.

Worldwide, breast cancer consists 10.4% in all cancer occurrence among the ladies, rendering it the most common form of non-skin cancer in females and the fifth most typical reason for cancer death. In ’04, breast cancers triggered 519,000 fatalities across the world (7% associated with cancer deaths; practically 1% of all deaths). Breast cancer is roughly a hundred situations more established in females compared to men, despite the fact that males are apt to have poorer successes on account of waiting times in a diagnosis.

As symptoms get worse, individuals with Parkinson’s disease may have trouble walking, talking or doing simple tasks. They may also have problems such as depression, sleep problems or trouble chewing, swallowing or speaking.

PWRM is a leading bio-technology company focused on the development of innovative diagnostic tests in the fields of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease). PWRM applies proprietary methodologies to discover and identify protein biomarkers associated with diseases.

More about PWRM at www.Power3Medical.com

Walter Investment Management Corp. (AMEX:WAC) recently reported that its Board of Directors declared the fourth quarter 2010 cash dividend of $0.50 per share. The dividend will be paid on January 14, 2011 to shareholders of record on December 23, 2010.

Walter Investment Management Corp. is an asset manager, mortgage servicer and mortgage portfolio owner specializing in less-than-prime, non-conforming and other credit-challenged mortgage assets.

RAE Systems Inc. (AMEX:RAE) recently introduced the ATEX-certified RAELink3 Z1 modem. It is a long-range wireless modem that provides a reliable and intrinsically safe way for safety professionals to easily integrate gas-and-radiation monitors from RAE Systems, and select third-party companies, into a single RAE Systems’ wireless detection system using ProRAE Guardian or ProRAE Remote safety-monitoring software. This allows multiple detection technologies to be viewed on a single platform with easy access to real-time sensor and global positioning system (GPS) readings.

RAE Systems Inc. is a leading global provider of rapidly deployable, connected, intelligent gas-detection systems that enable real-time safety and security threat detection.

Central Securities Corp. (AMEX:CET) recently reported that the price at which Common Stock will be issued in payment of the $0.70 per share distribution payable on December 22, 2010 is $20.95 per share.

Central Securities Corporation is a publicly owned investment manager. It invests in the public equity markets of the United States.

Your Client’s Brain: How to De-Stress

This is the sixth of eight new articles by Olivia Mellan and Sherry Christie that continue the discussion on Your Client’s Brain that began with Investment Advisor’s February 2013 cover story—Double Think: Getting Past the Conflict in Your Clients’ Two Brains—and a feature article—Second Thoughts: Making Better Decisions—in the March 2013 issue of IA.

There are many body-based techniques for reducing feelings of stress. One of the simplest is Hand On the Heart from therapist and trainer Linda Graham’s new book, “Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being.” To restore calm in yourself, she recommends you follow these four steps (edited here for brevity): 

      1. Begin by placing your hand on your heart, feeling the warmth of your own touch. Breathe gently and deeply into your heart center. Breathe in any sense of goodness, safety, trust, acceptance and ease you can muster. Breathe a sense of calm and peace into your heart center… a sense of contentment, well-being, a sense of kindness for yourself, gratitude for others, self-care and self-love.

      2. Once that’s steady, call to mind a moment of being with someone who loves you unconditionally, someone you feel completely safe with, at a moment when you felt seen and accepted, loved and cherished. It may be a beloved partner or a beloved child or parent, a dear friend, a trusted teacher, a close colleague or neighbor, your therapist, your grandmother, a third-grade teacher or a spiritual figure like Jesus or the Dalai Lama; it could be your Wiser Self. It could be a beloved pet. 

      3. As you remember feeling safe and loved with this person or pet, see if you can sense in your body the positive feelings and sensations that come up with that memory. Really savor this feeling of warmth, safety, trust and love in your body. Take a moment to allow the feeling to become steady in your body. 

      4. When that feeling is steady, let go of the image and simply bathe in the feeling itself for 30 seconds. Savor the rich nurturing of this feeling; let it really soak in.

      “We come into steady calm by experiencing moments of feeling safe, loved and cherished, and letting those moments register in our body and encode new circuitry in our brain,” explained Graham. Neural pathways to the brain signal it to release oxytocin, which evokes a sense of safe connection with others and immediately reduces feelings of stress. (A variation taught by Buddhist meditation teachers and authors James Baraz and Tara Brach: place your hand on your own cheek and say gently, “Oh, sweetheart!” Your touch and kind intention toward yourself will release oxytocin as well.)

      Breathing deeply, gently and fully activates the parasympathetic branch of our autonomic nervous system. This balances the revving up of the fight-or-flight response generated by stress, restoring brain-body equilibrium. Breathing or pranayama, Graham added, has been a core practice in yoga and meditation to relax the body and steady the mind for over 3,500 years.  

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We invite you to visit the Your Client’s Brain landing page on AdvisorOne for additional archived and ongoing coverage of this important topic.

Rentokil Initial Rallies as Dividend Is Lifted by 58%

LONDON -- The shares of Rentokil Initial (LSE: RTO  ) have rallied 10.5% to 100 pence as of 10 a.m. EDT after the FTSE 250 midcap lifted its annual dividend by 58%. Rentokil announced a 2.1 pence per-share payout for 2012, compared with a 1.33 pence per-share dividend declared this time last year.

The 58% advance reflected the fact that Rentokil's 2011 payout was its first dividend since 2008. The company, which provides services as diverse as parcel deliveries, rat catching, and office plant watering, had previously scrapped its dividend for three years as operational troubles, high debts, and the recession all took their toll.

Today's dividend development accompanied full-year results that showed sales steady at 2.5 billion pounds and adjusted profit before tax up 4% to 191 million pounds. Rentokil said it had enjoyed a "strong" finish to 2012, with fourth-quarter profit up 11% to 64 million pounds.

Alan Brown, Rentokil's chief executive, said:

These results were broad based, with every division improving both revenue and profit. Furthermore, we increased organic revenue growth by 1.3% from negative 0.5% to positive 0.8% (excluding Initial Facilities Spain) despite difficult market conditions for our largest businesses. ... While we remain mindful of continuing tough conditions across many of our markets, the operational changes we made during the year, together with the acquisition of Western Exterminator in December, give us confidence that 2013 will see us sustain the momentum we achieved in the final quarter of 2012.

Based on today's results, Rentokil's shares trade at 12 times earnings and offer a dividend yield of 2.2%. Of course, whether that valuation, today's results, and the wider prospects for office plant watering all combine to make Rentokil's shares a buy remains your decision.

But if you already own Rentokil shares and are looking for a different investment opportunity, this exclusive in-depth report reviews a solid alternative. Indeed, the share in question has lifted its profits by 44% since 2009, owns subsidiaries that might contain considerable hidden value, and has just been declared "The Motley Fool's Top Growth Stock For 2013"! Just click here to download the report -- it's 100% free.

3 Stocks to Get on Your Watchlist

I follow quite a lot of companies, so the usefulness of a watchlist to me cannot be overstated. Without my watchlist, I'd be unable to keep up on my favorite sectors and see what's really moving the market. Even worse, I'd be lost when the time came to choose which stock I'm buying or shorting next.

Today is Watchlist Wednesday, so I'm discussing three companies that have crossed my radar in the past week -- and at what point I may consider taking action on these calls with my own money. Keep in mind that these aren't concrete buy or sell recommendations, nor do I guarantee I'll take action on the companies being discussed. What I can promise is that you can�follow my real-life transactions�through my profile and that I, like everyone else here at The Motley Fool, will continue to hold the integrity of our�disclosure policy�in the highest regard.

Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP  )
I'm not catering specifically to short-sellers this week, but I'm definitely planning to start out with a company tingling every short-selling nerve in my body: Leap Wireless.

The domestic service provider industry has two behemoths in AT&T and Verizon and gets extremely crowded when you add in Sprint-Nextel and T-Mobile. There just simply isn't any room for smaller pay-as-you-go service providers that don't have the ample capital to expand their 3G or 4G LTE networks and boast a cash burn and customer attrition rate that's on pace to put many of them out of business within a matter of years.

Possibly the worst move T-Mobile could have made was the purchase of MetroPCS Communications (NYSE: PCS  ) , announced last year. However, Leap Wireless shareholders have made an equally big mistake by betting that their company is next on the buyout list. MetroPCS and Leap are both suffering from high attrition rates as they've lacked high-traffic-driving phones until recently (as well as long-term contracts), and it's these phones that typically guarantee consistent cash flow. With T-Mobile's backing, MetroPCS will likely be absorbed into T-Mobile's existing network. As for Leap, it hasn't been cash flow positive since 2005 and has burned through $1.9 billion in cash over that time period. At this rate, it could be out of cash in two or three years, which is enough reason to consider short-selling this company on any pop.

InterMune (NASDAQ: ITMN  )
Again, not to be a Debbie Downer, but how exactly do you spin InterMune's fourth-quarter report last month into a positive? InterMune's management seems quite pleased with the company's progress in Europe with Esbriet, the company's idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis drug, which comes with a hefty price tag. For the fourth quarter, InterMune reported revenue of $8.2 million as compared to just $2.7 million in the year-ago quarter as losses for the quarter expanded to $58.6 million, or $0.90 per share, from $44.5 million, or $0.69 per share, last year.

If Esbriet were just hitting the markets, I might have some forgiveness to offer InterMune. However, we're talking about a drug with practically two full years of sales under its belt, treating a disease with few to zero alternatives, and the best it can muster is $26.2 million in total sales for 2012. May I remind everyone that the Street's original estimates in 2012 had called for Esbriet sales of $77.9 million, so it hardly met but a third of that estimate.�

Worse yet is InterMune's dire cash flow. Although the company completed a 15.525 million share offering in January that helped raise $145.7 million in cash, InterMune has only $67 million in net cash. That's not very much considering that the company lost $194.6 million from continuing operations last year. At this rate, without continued dilutive offerings, InterMune could go belly-up.

There's still hope that an Esbriet approval in the U.S. will boost sales, but if growth in IPF drug sales is as slow in the U.S. as abroad, it may take 20 years just for the drug to be profitable!

Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB  )
Even though the Federal Reserves' stress test only delivered a failure in one of the 18 largest banks tested (Ally Financial), many other banks that had been smelling like a rose had their capital allocation plans spoiled. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) , for example, was a notable weak component following the stress tests. The Fed remained concerned about JPMorgan's ability to estimate losses in a severe economic downturn and the company itself noted it may need to pare back its dividend as early as the third quarter after resubmitting its capital plan to the Fed in a few weeks.

The same can't be said for Fifth Third Bancorp, which passed the stress test with flying colors and was given the all-clear to proceed with its aggressive capital plan. Fifth Third announced it would be boosting its dividend by 10% to $0.11 each quarter and announced a boost in its share repurchase program to 100 million shares. This may sound rather ho-hum when compared to some bigger banks, but the new yield on Fifth Third will be a very respectable 2.7% -- a yield few banks outdo at the moment.�

From a valuation perspective, Fifth Third should still have room to head higher at 109% of book value and less than 10 times forward earnings. This is a bank I've got my eye on, and I may consider a position if its share price drops considerably.

Foolish roundup
Is my bullishness or bearishness misplaced? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, and consider following my cue by using these links to add these companies to your free, personalized Watchlist to keep up on the latest news with each company:

• Add Leap Wireless to My Watchlist.
• Add InterMune to My Watchlist.
• Add Fifth Third Bancorp to My Watchlist.

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

Skullcandy Names New CEO

More than a month after Park City, Utah-based Skullcandy (NASDAQ: SKUL  ) announced the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Andrus, the company says it's found a replacement, and company founder Rick Alden can quit temping as interim CEO.

The "performance audio" earbuds manufacturer announced Monday that it has hired former Nike + Digital Sport general manager Hoby Darling, 37, to take the reins from Alden, effective immediately. Alden praised Darling as "a best in class addition to this team," citing his experience with emerging and global brands.

Chairman of the Board Jeff Kearl was quoted in the company press release as saying he was "stoked" that Alden has agreed to stay on full time at the company. "He will play an integral role with the executive team at Skullcandy helping set the vision and strategy for the future, as well as attacking the immediate initiatives outlined on the last earnings call," Kearl said.

According to an SEC filing, Darling's compensation as CEO will include:

• A $450,000 base salary.
• An annual bonus that will range from a minimum of 37.5% of his salary to a maximum of 150%, with a target of 100%.
• $2 million worth of stock options and restricted stock units, vesting over a four-year period.�

The Cornerstone of American Investing

On this day in economic and financial history...

The Massachusetts Investors Trust (NASDAQMUTFUND: MITTX  ) , the first mutual fund in market history, was organized on Mar. 21, 1924 by Edward G. Leffler. The fund's signature characteristics -- redeemable daily at current values and offering new shares on a regular basis -- continue to define the mutual-fund market to this day. Leffler, an ardent teetotaler and Prohibition supporter, saw the relatively low risk of professionally managed, pooled liquid investments as the antidote to the rising exuberance of the Roaring '20s, which was then still more cultural than financial; the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) had at this point gained a relatively modest 50% since its 1921 lows. The greater liquidity and accurate valuation of mutual funds also presented an apparent advantage over closed-end funds, which used leverage instead of share issuance to add value to their portfolios.

Leffler devised this investment vehicle while working on Boston's State Street, which has been a hotbed of money-management innovation for nearly a century. In fact, a mere four months later, the notable financial-services firm State Street (NYSE: STT  ) was incorporated to provide what's typically considered the second mutual-fund offering in market history. Fidelity, the longtime home of superinvestor Peter Lynch and one of the largest mutual-fund administrators in the world, is also based in Boston's financial district (though not on State Street).

Leffler created another mutual fund a year and a half later, and between his two funds and State Street's offering, the mutual-fund industry had all it needed for a foundation. Several other Boston-based investment companies established their own funds throughout the Roaring '20s, but these stock-like vehicles at first failed to catch on. By the end of 1929, there were only 19 mutual funds with $140 million in assets under management, compared to 162 closed-end funds, which had roughly $2.6 billion in assets.

The leveraged closed-end funds soared during the boom years, but their characteristic leverage proved to be a major drawback when the market crashed. The pioneering mutual funds bettered the Dow's performance during the early phase of the Great Depression -- Leffler's two funds lost a respective 75% and 81%, and State Street's mutual fund lost 71%, versus the Dow's 89% implosion. Closed-end funds, on the other hand, ended the bear-market slide with their shares worth 35% less than the value of their underlying assets. From the start of the crash to the onset of World War II, mutual-fund assets grew to $450 million, while closed-end funds shrank to an aggregate net asset value of about $780 million.

More recently, mutual funds have continued to grow and are now one of the most popular investment vehicles for millions of American investors. In 2011, 44% of all American households -- more 52 million of them -- owned mutual funds. That year, according to the Investment Company Institute, nearly 8,700 mutual funds held roughly $11.6 trillion in assets -- nearly half of the nearly $24 trillion held in mutual funds worldwide. The MIT fund, that granddaddy of them all, continues to modestly outperform the indexes. For its most recent five years (up to its 89th anniversary in 2013), the MIT fund beat the Dow with a 21.1% gain to the index's 17.4%.

With so many of the big finance firms getting bad press these days, it may be time to "be greedy when others are fearful." Not surprisingly, some of Warren Buffett's biggest investments are in the space. In The Motley Fool's free report "The Stocks Only the Smartest Investors Are Buying," you can learn about a small, under-the-radar bank that's too tiny for Buffett's billions -- too bad for him, because it has better operating metrics than his favorites. Just click here to keep reading.

Barclays: Stick With Stocks, For Now

Barclays global outlook released Thursday tells investors not to abandon stocks, even though equity markets may have come too far too fast.

The rationale: mediocre economic growth, tight fiscal policy, extraordinarily easy monetary policy, low volatility and inter-market correlation all mean that equities will outperform fixed income “by a wide margin.”

Though “investor sentiment may have become overly optimistic,” Larry Kantor, head of research at Barclays, writes that�any correction is likely to be contained “given persistent fundamental support for equities � continued policy support, low risk of cyclical downturn and attractive valuations relative to fixed income.”

Update: Kantor tells�Bloomberg Radio:

” ‘For now’�is important because we have been very bullish on the stock market. We can finally see the end of it here, but not for a few months. We are sticking with the long equity trade … definitely for the next two months.” �Kantor says we are ripe for a correction, but not on the order of 10% in 2010. “We would be buyers on dips.”

Barclays prefers developed market equities, especially in the US, Japan, the UK and Spain. And it prefers fixed income to equities in emerging markets, although “prospective returns are limited, given the strong performance last year.”

Key forecasts for equities:

• “Our 2013 forecast was based on a recovery in business confidence, leading to a reacceleration of earnings growth and capital spending. Unlike 2010-12, shocks from public policy seem less likely, leading to a more benign correction if the growth outlook pauses.
• For the next stage of the equity risk premium compression driven rally to materialise, headline risks would need to dissipate or profitability to stabilise. We are optimistic on both fronts and upgrade our STOXX 600 target for 2013 to 330 (11% upside).”

Key recommendations for equities:

• “Given the prospect of a near-term hit to US growth as a result of fiscal tightening, US stocks with bond-like characteristics should outperform, due to their generally defensive nature, while domestic cyclicals should struggle if earnings disappoint. Reduced fiscal policy uncertainty should benefit stocks leveraged to capital spending.
• In Europe, we prefer the financials sector that could benefit most from an inflection in profit margins. We retain our overweight on the UK and peripheral European markets.”

Your Client’s Brain: How to De-Stress

This is the sixth of eight new articles by Olivia Mellan and Sherry Christie that continue the discussion on Your Client’s Brain that began with Investment Advisor’s February 2013 cover story—Double Think: Getting Past the Conflict in Your Clients’ Two Brains—and a feature article—Second Thoughts: Making Better Decisions—in the March 2013 issue of IA.

There are many body-based techniques for reducing feelings of stress. One of the simplest is Hand On the Heart from therapist and trainer Linda Graham’s new book, “Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being.” To restore calm in yourself, she recommends you follow these four steps (edited here for brevity): 

      1. Begin by placing your hand on your heart, feeling the warmth of your own touch. Breathe gently and deeply into your heart center. Breathe in any sense of goodness, safety, trust, acceptance and ease you can muster. Breathe a sense of calm and peace into your heart center… a sense of contentment, well-being, a sense of kindness for yourself, gratitude for others, self-care and self-love.

      2. Once that’s steady, call to mind a moment of being with someone who loves you unconditionally, someone you feel completely safe with, at a moment when you felt seen and accepted, loved and cherished. It may be a beloved partner or a beloved child or parent, a dear friend, a trusted teacher, a close colleague or neighbor, your therapist, your grandmother, a third-grade teacher or a spiritual figure like Jesus or the Dalai Lama; it could be your Wiser Self. It could be a beloved pet. 

      3. As you remember feeling safe and loved with this person or pet, see if you can sense in your body the positive feelings and sensations that come up with that memory. Really savor this feeling of warmth, safety, trust and love in your body. Take a moment to allow the feeling to become steady in your body. 

      4. When that feeling is steady, let go of the image and simply bathe in the feeling itself for 30 seconds. Savor the rich nurturing of this feeling; let it really soak in.

      “We come into steady calm by experiencing moments of feeling safe, loved and cherished, and letting those moments register in our body and encode new circuitry in our brain,” explained Graham. Neural pathways to the brain signal it to release oxytocin, which evokes a sense of safe connection with others and immediately reduces feelings of stress. (A variation taught by Buddhist meditation teachers and authors James Baraz and Tara Brach: place your hand on your own cheek and say gently, “Oh, sweetheart!” Your touch and kind intention toward yourself will release oxytocin as well.)

      Breathing deeply, gently and fully activates the parasympathetic branch of our autonomic nervous system. This balances the revving up of the fight-or-flight response generated by stress, restoring brain-body equilibrium. Breathing or pranayama, Graham added, has been a core practice in yoga and meditation to relax the body and steady the mind for over 3,500 years.  

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We invite you to visit the Your Client’s Brain landing page on AdvisorOne for additional archived and ongoing coverage of this important topic.

Jeremy Siegel’s Math Puts Dow at 18,000 Next Year: Epstein

We’re used to grandiose predictions for the Dow that never quite seem to pan out (see Jim Glassman’s Dow 36,000, Harry Dent’s Dow 40,000 or even Charles Kadlec's Dow 100,000). But when they come from someone like Jeremy Siegel and are credibly within reach, it might be worth a look.

Gene Epstein of Barron’s takes a look at the hard numbers and makes a strong case for reaching the milestone. He also cites Siegel, famed finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, in his calculations.

“Even with the Dow reaching a record 14,539.14 …the performance of the market over the past five years is still below par,” Epstein argues. “That bodes well for the bulls. Lower-than-average returns over five years are generally followed by higher-than-average returns over the following two years.”

Accordingly, he claims the Dow has a four-in-five chance to be “flat or higher by year-end 2014, and a 50-50 chance of approaching 18,000 over the same time frame.”

"These market odds are derived from long-term market patterns whose source is Siegel," he notes. Siegel has amassed numbers on stock-market performance dating back to 1871, the earliest year for which “unimpeachable data” are available. The numbers, which were compiled with the help of Prof. Siegel's former student Jeremy Schwartz, provide the basis for projecting the likely path of the Dow.

“The 142 years of market performance reveal a fairly straightforward cyclical pattern of worse-than-average returns followed by periods of better-than-average returns. Last year, the five-year returns were in the lowest quartile of all returns for five-year cycles.”

Siegel believes the outlook for year-end 2013 remains intact, Epstein concludes.

"15,000 by year-end looks pretty easy now," Siegel observes, "with 16,000-17,000 within range by the end of the year."

Will CECO Environmental Fumble Next Quarter?

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

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can, at times, suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like CECO Environmental do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is CECO Environmental sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plotted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. CECO Environmental's latest average DSO stands at 68.0 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 79.0 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does CECO Environmental look like it might miss its numbers in the next quarter or two?

Investors should watch the top line carefully during the next quarter or two. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, CECO Environmental's year-over-year revenue shrank 9.1%, and its AR grew 27.7%. That's a yellow flag. End-of-quarter DSO increased 40.4% over the prior-year quarter. It was up 33.7% versus the prior quarter. That demands a good explanation. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

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• Add CECO Environmental to My Watchlist.

Is Powell Industries Going to Burn You?

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

A cloudy crystal ball
In this series, we use accounts receivable and days sales outstanding to judge a company's current health and future prospects. It's an important step in separating the pretenders from the market's best stocks. Alone, AR -- the amount of money owed the company -- and DSO -- the number of days' worth of sales owed to the company -- don't tell you much. However, by considering the trends in AR and DSO, you can sometimes get a window onto the future.

Sometimes, problems with AR or DSO simply indicate a change in the business (like an acquisition), or lax collections. However, AR that grows more quickly than revenue, or ballooning DSO, can, at times, suggest a desperate company that's trying to boost sales by giving its customers overly generous payment terms. Alternately, it can indicate that the company sprinted to book a load of sales at the end of the quarter, like used-car dealers on the 29th of the month. (Sometimes, companies do both.)

Why might an upstanding firm like Powell Industries do this? For the same reason any other company might: to make the numbers. Investors don't like revenue shortfalls, and employees don't like reporting them to their superiors.

Is Powell Industries sending any potential warning signs? Take a look at the chart below, which plots revenue growth against AR growth, and DSO:

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Data is current as of last fully reported fiscal quarter. FQ = fiscal quarter.

The standard way to calculate DSO uses average accounts receivable. I prefer to look at end-of-quarter receivables, but I've plotted both above.

Watching the trends
When that red line (AR growth) crosses above the green line (revenue growth), I know I need to consult the filings. Similarly, a spike in the blue bars indicates a trend worth worrying about. Powell Industries's latest average DSO stands at 72.9 days, and the end-of-quarter figure is 70.6 days. Differences in business models can generate variations in DSO, and business needs can require occasional fluctuations, but all things being equal, I like to see this figure stay steady. So, let's get back to our original question: Based on DSO and sales, does Powell Industries look like it might miss its numbers in the next quarter or two?

The numbers don't paint a clear picture. For the last fully reported fiscal quarter, Powell Industries's year-over-year revenue shrank 2.2%, and its AR dropped 9.7%. That looks ok, but end-of-quarter DSO decreased 7.6% from the prior-year quarter. It was up 12.4% versus the prior quarter. That demands a good explanation. Still, I'm no fortuneteller, and these are just numbers. Investors putting their money on the line always need to dig into the filings for the root causes and draw their own conclusions.

If you're interested in companies like Powell Industries, you might want to check out the jaw-dropping technology that's about to put 100 million Chinese factory workers out on the street � and the 3 companies that control it. We'll tell you all about them in "The Future is Made in America." Click here for instant access to this free report.

• Add Powell Industries to My Watchlist.

This Could Be the Year Bank of America Pays Income Tax

It's the time of year when spring is in the air, and the first quarter is about to close, giving us an idea of how the new year will be treating our favorite companies. As an added treat -- with April 15 just around the corner -- we also begin to hear whispers regarding what these entities paid in taxes in previous years.

For investors, this information is often less irksome than for Main Street at large, since a smaller tax bill should result in more capital to share with stockholders. This is not necessarily the case, of course, particularly with the banking sector -- which has just begun to blossom again in the wake of the Great Recession.

Taking a look at income taxes paid by big banks clearly points up the fact that those that pay the most in federal taxes also have the most income. This can be seen clearly by taking a look at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) .

Tax refunds?
Since the financial crisis of 2008, the tax burden has been non-existent for B of A�and Citigroup� (NYSE: C  ) , neither of which has paid federal income tax since that year. Banks and other corporations enjoy tax benefits by holding money offshore and being able to deduct their own pay, which can pave the way for tax refunds. In the case of Citi, this was because of special tax treatment for past losses, lobbied for�by then-CEO Vikram Pandit. For Bank of America, it was because of its purchase of the ticking time bomb called Countrywide.

Debt is a bona-fide tax write-off, as are legal expenses. With approximately $45 billion in settlement costs under its belt since 2009, Bank of America has shouldered a heavy load -- and more suits are pending. The last quarter of 2012 entailed a lot of deck-clearing for the big guy, resulting in more losses against earnings, which came in at a mere $0.03 per share�on an adjusted $20 billion in revenues, which fell by $6 billion in the year-ago quarter.

The fix: Increased earnings
Banks that make money pay taxes, evidenced by the tax bills of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM  ) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) . The former bank paid $7.6 billion�in federal income taxes on pre-tax earnings of nearly $29 billion, and Wells forked over $9.1 billion�in tax to Uncle Sam out of $28.5 billion in income.

The London Whale incident probably accounts for JPMorgan's slightly lower tax bill, but both of these banks were very active in the mortgage-writing business, which boosted earnings considerably.

CEO Brian Moynihan has addressed B of A's need to increase earnings, particularly via mortgage lending, and is currently working on bolstering that metric. If he delivers, Bank of America may currently be on its way to finally being able to pay an income tax bill next year.

While Bank of America's stock doubled in 2012, the earnings problem could stall the bank's progress. With significant challenges still ahead, it's critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool's premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, Financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

State Street Modestly Lifts Dividend

State Street (NYSE: STT  ) has declared its first dividend for 2013. The company is to pay $0.26 per share of its common stock on April 12 to shareholders of record as of April 1. That represents an 8% increase over the company's previous distribution of $0.24, which it paid in each quarter of 2012.

The company typically adjusts its dividend once per year. For all four quarters of 2011, it paid $0.18, while 2010's quarterly payouts were $0.01 each.

The new dividend annualizes to $1.04 per share. That yields 1.8% at State Street's current stock price of $57.19.

Late last week, the company announced a quarterly payout on its non-cumulative perpetual preferred series C stock. That dividend is $1,312.50 per share, and will be paid on March 15 to stockholders of record as of February 28.

Is Bank of America the Most Dangerous Bank in the World?

After the financial crisis a few years back, and especially in light of the recent banking news coming out of Cyprus, many investors are scared to invest in big banks because they don't have a good way to gauge the risk that they're getting involved with.

In this video, Motley Fool financial analysts Matt Koppenheffer and David Hanson discuss one great metric for assessing the risk with a particular bank: its leverage ratio. They also discuss how some of the biggest banks in the nation, such as Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) , stack up against other banks, both domestic and international.�

Bank of America�s stock doubled in 2012. Is there more yet to come? With significant challenges still ahead, it�s critical to have a solid understanding of this megabank before adding it to your portfolio. In The Motley Fool�s premium research report on B of A, analysts Anand Chokkavelu, CFA, and Matt Koppenheffer, Financials bureau chief, lift the veil on the bank's operations, including detailing three reasons to buy and three reasons to sell. Click here now to claim your copy.

�

The Incredible Growing Home

We talk a lot about home prices. We compare average prices today to a year ago, 10 years ago, or more.

But there's a flaw in doing this. To rationally compare the price of an average home today to an average home any number of years ago, you have to assume that the two homes are the same -- apples to apples. But they're not. The average American home has changed drastically over the last three decades.

The median new home built in 2012 was 2,309 square feet, according to the Census Bureau. That was a new record, up nearly 10% in the last decade. Plot the average since 1974, and our humble abodes have grown by more than half:

Source: Census Bureau.

There are two takeaways from this.

One, keep in mind that this is the median, not the mean average that would be skewed upward by a few Russian oligarch's palatial estates. The average new home is far larger today than it has ever been. Why is that? Is the average American richer? Compared with three decades ago, probably. Compared with a decade ago, probably not. What's changed is that we're spending more of our income on housing. In 1984, a typical household devoted 16% of their budget to shelter. By 2011 that figure was up to 19%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As I've shown before, the relative cost of things like food and apparel have dropped over the last few decades, and an average household now devotes about half as much of its budget to food today than it did in the 1970s. Part of that savings looks like it's made its way into housing. Even if total wealth hasn't increased much, the composition of what we're spending money on has.

Second, this should change the discussion about home prices. The average new home sold for $221,000 in 2010, which is virtually unchanged since 1987 when adjusted for overall inflation. But adjust for size, and the average new home today is 24% cheaper today than it was then, simply because a buyer today is getting more square footage per dollar. Thinking this way also changes how we talk about utility bills. Even if energy prices stayed flat, changes in average home sizes mean it should cost 50% more to heat or cool an average home today than it did in the 1970s.

And even though we're living in larger homes, the size of an average household is shrinking -- a function of a lower birthrate. In 1975 the average American household had 2.94 persons. By 2004 that was down to 2.57. Oddly, as recently as 1986, just 12% of new homes had three or more bathrooms. Last year, nearly a third did. Indeed, the average new home now has more bathrooms than occupants. Look how far we've come, grandma.

Why Bridgepoint Is Poised to Bounce Back

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, for-profit educator Bridgepoint Education (NYSE: BPI  ) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Bridgepoint and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

Bridgepoint facts

�	�
Headquarters (founded)	San Diego, Calif. (1999)
Market Cap	$563.3 million
Industry	Education services
Trailing-12-Month Revenue	$968.2 million
Management	Co-Founder/CEO Andrew Clark CFO Daniel Devine
Return on Equity (average, past 3 years)	52.3%
Cash/Debt	$392.9 million/$0
Competitors	Apollo Group� Corinthian Colleges� DeVry�

Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 94% of the 497 members who have rated Bridgepoint believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Earlier today, one of those Fools, bes0m3b0dy, tapped Bridgepoint as a particularly enticing bargain opportunity:

The main raincloud over this stock is Ashford University losing its accreditation. ... Though I do not claim to predict the outcome of this situation, the stock is worth at least $18 even if enrollment at Ashford is more than cut in half. At a price of $10.47 this stock is such a bargain that there is a large margin of safety: the "worst-case" scenario of Ashford losing its accreditation means that revenues may slowly decline for a few years then fall precipitously (assuming management does absolutely nothing), but with the current cash position, Bridgepoint's stock is already massively depressed. The risk-reward on this one is quite favorable.

If you want market-thumping returns, you need to put together the best portfolio you can. Of course, despite a strong four-star rating, Bridgepoint may not be your top choice.

We've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.