Is Now the Time to Buy Freeport?

There's enough going on at Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX  ) , the world's biggest publicly traded copper producer, that its management undoubtedly resembles a proverbial cat in a sandbox these days. But the key question regarding the big mining -- and now oil and gas -- company is whether its shares should be bought, sold, or ignored.

As we move into June, the company's attention is being directed to the combination of starting its huge Grasberg copper and gold facility in Indonesia, following a pair of accidents, and buttoning up its purchase of Houston-based energy producer Plains Exploration and Production Company. At the same time, its preparing to close on its planned acquisition of McMoRan Exploration (NYSE: MMR  ) , an event that's expected to occur early next week.

Grasberg's horrendous happenings
On May 14, a training area in a Grasberg tunnel, away from the company's main operating areas, caved in on 38 workers. While 10 of the victims were rescued, the rest perished. The following day, Freeport suspended its operations at the big facility, which, in addition to its copper output, contains the world's largest reserves of gold. Only BHP Billiton's (NYSE: BHP  ) Escondida facility in Chile can boast a size advantage over Grasberg.

Then, as the company was preparing to resume production at Grasberg -- which can produce 140,000 metric tons of copper daily when it is running all out -- a second accident at the facility left another employee fighting for his life. According to a statement from Freeport Indonesia, workers were performing approved maintenance activities at the deep ore zone underground in the complex when "wet ore material (wet muck) flowed from an ore bin covering a truck and its driver."

The victim was last reported to be in critical condition. This event followed by six weeks Rio Tinto's (NYSE: RIO  ) stoppage of production at its Bingham Canyon mine in Utah.

It remains difficult to forecast when Grasberg will again produce at full capacity. On Thursday, a union representing 18,000 of the 24,000 workers at the operation said its contingent wouldn't return to work until all investigations are wrapped up at the complex. That contention raises questions about how long the company can continue to ship copper to its customers. Since the mine's closing, it's been tapping its stockpiles, which typically run to about a four week supply.

Unpacking the purchases
On Friday, Freeport's $6.2 billion Plains purchase, which had been announced in December, was closed. Plains' shareholders were given a choice of cash or Freeport shares in the deal. All in all, the acquisition likely will cost Phoenix-based Freeport about $6.9 billion.

Plains was formed in 2002 and had a final market capitalization slightly in excess of $6.3 billion. Through its acquisition, Freeport receives oil and gas operations onshore and offshore in California, in the Gulf of Mexico, along the Gulf Coast, and in the Rocky Mountains.

Once the McMoRan deal is completed, Freeport will add additional properties in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Gulf Coast. Through the two purchases, Freeport will notably gain acreage in both the prolific Eagle Ford play and the Haynesville shale. It will also assume McMoRan's provision of services in exploration and production technologies, including 3-D seismic interpretation and both offshore and horizontal drilling.

Freeport, which shares a number of executives with McMoRan, will pay the latter company's shareholders $14.75 per share in cash and 1.15 units in a royalty trust for each share of the acquired company they hold. As such, that deal will cost Freeport about $3.4 billion. In total, the two acquisitions will cost about $20 billion, including debt assumptions.

Cutting the copper correlation
It's now hard to forecast the extent to which Freeport shares will correlate to copper prices. Obviously, the new oil and gas properties in the company's repertoire will reduce the prior close relationship between the share price and demand for the red metal. Copper prices dipped this week when the International Monetary Fund reduced its forecast for economic growth in China.

In the past year, Freeport's shares have been about flat, although year to date they've retreated by nearly 9.5%. The latter movement clearly relates in part to concern about the wisdom behind the oil and gas purchases and, more recently, the negatives cast by the Grasberg tragedies. In contrast, Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO  ) has seen its share price rise by about 12.75% during the past year, but drop by more than 18% on a year-to-date basis.

Foolish takeaways
There obviously also are concerns about Freeport's debt position following the conclusion of both mergers, along with its ability to seamlessly fold in the oil and gas operations. While the company's net debt position at the end of 2012 was about $12 billion, management forecasts that, at $3.00 per pound for average copper prices, that level can be reduced to about $7.7 billion by the end of 2016. And at a $3.50 average, net debt likely would decline to approximately $2.0 billion in the same time frame.

As to management's ability to comfortably take on the energy operations, a prior criticism can now become a strength. When the Plains and McMoRan deals were first announced, much of the criticism that sprang up related to board of directors and management overlaps among the companies. Now, those connections importantly mean that Freeport's leadership is hardly new to its new assets.

The Surprising Link Between ADHD and Obesity

A new long-term study of men with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, has linked the disorder with an increased likelihood of becoming obese in adulthood.

The study tracked men with ADHD for more than 30 years and found that a whopping 41% of them were obese compared to 22% of patients in a matched control group who didn't have ADHD. The control group pretty accurately matches the general population, arguing there's something special about the high rate of obesity in men with ADHD.

The obvious explanation is that patients with ADHD have a hard time with impulse control. If you can't resist being the class clown, it's hard to resist eating that extra cookie.

Interestingly adults that had controlled their ADHD symptoms as an adult seemed to have a higher rate of obesity than those that continued to have symptoms. The results could simply be because the study was small -- there were only 111 in the ADHD group -- or it's possible those that have controlled their symptoms have developed a coping mechanism that involves overeating to stimulate the dopamine receptors.

Investment opportunity?
The men in this study were 41, so they were kids in the 1970s, long before drugs such as Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE  ) Quillivant XR, Eli Lilly's (NYSE: LLY  ) Strattera, Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ  ) Concerta, or Shire's (NASDAQ: SHPG  ) multitude of ADHD drugs were available to treat the disease.

It seems reasonable to assume that if adolescence could control their ADHD, it might decrease their desire to overeat. There's some evidence for this hypothesis from another study that found children with ADHD who weren't taking medication were 1.5 times as likely to be overweight than those who took ADHD medications.

Companies that sell ADHD medications are in a constant battle with groups that think that children are being over-diagnosed and over-medicated. Avoiding obesity would add arsenal to the argument that treating with drugs is a better choice.

Of course, the companies have to be careful to not overstep their marketing. Side effects for some ADHD medications include reduced appetite and weight loss, which might explain why medicating reduces the likelihood of being overweight. But they're not approved to be used to treat obesity, so the companies aren't allowed to promote them for that purpose. In the fourth quarter of last year, Shire took a $57.5 million charge to settle an investigation of Shire's marketing practices for its ADHD drugs, although it didn't detail exactly what practices the Department of Justice wasn't happy about.

If all else fails, there are drugs actually approved to treat obesity
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More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

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Dow Skyrockets on Positive Economic Data

This morning its was reported that consumer confidence rose in May to a five-year high, while home prices rose 11% year over year in March, according to the Case-Shiller index. With housing prices continuing to climb, it's no wonder consumers are more confident about the health of the economy and their livelihood, but the confidence level was much higher than most economist had expected. The index rose to 76.2 in May, leaving both April's reading of 69 and estimates for May of 71 in the dust. 

As of 12:45 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) is up 159 points, or 1.04%. The S&P 500 has risen 0.91%, while the NASDAQ has gained 1.1%%. These huge gains likely indicate that investors have, at least for today, forgotten about the Federal Reserve and the possibility that it may begin slowing down its bond-buying programs in the coming months. Last week that seemed to be the only things on anyone's mind. How weak the market's short-term memory is.

Today's losers
Despite receiving an increased target share price by analysts at Credit Suisse, shares of Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG  ) are down by 1%, making P&G the only Dow component trading in the red at this time. The analysts raised the target price to $85 per share due to the return of ex-CEO A. G. Lafley. But despite the boost of confidence in P&G, traders are taking money off the table after the stock spiked 4% on Friday.

Outside the Dow, shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) are 4% on little news but high volume. The average daily volume for Netflix is 4.3 million shares, but today we have already seen more than 3.7 million shares trade hands. One reason for higher-than-normal volume could be that large institutional shareholders are dumping their positions. Recently, Jana Partners sold its entire position in the company, and after the stock's recent run-up, taking money off the table looks attractive.

Another big loser during this winning session is Exelon (NYSE: EXC  ) , which is down by 7.5% after analysts at Deutsche bank downgraded the stock from buy to hold this morning. The analysts also lowered their price target on the stock to $34 per share. The analysts said the company faces a number of headwinds in the long term.  

More foolish insight
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Why Kongzhong's Earnings Are Outstanding

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

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

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

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

Over the past 12 months, Kongzhong generated $44.9 million cash while it booked net income of $25.7 million. That means it turned 24.4% of its revenue into FCF. That sounds pretty impressive.

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

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

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

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

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

With questionable cash flows amounting to only 8.2% of operating cash flow, Kongzhong's cash flows look clean. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, stock-based compensation and related tax benefits provided the biggest boost, at 8.2% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from changes in accounts receivable, which represented 8.0% of cash from operations.

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

Software and computerized services are being consumed in radically different ways, on new and increasingly mobile devices. Many old leaders will be left behind. Whether or not Kongzhong makes the coming cut, you should check out the company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead the pack in "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.

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

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Hyundai's Surprising Electric-Car Gambit

Hyundai (NASDAQOTH: HYMTF  ) hasn't been much of a player in the green-car wars. It offers a hybrid version of its Sonata sedan, but it's just so-so -- not up to the standard set by class leaders Toyota (NYSE: TM  ) and Ford (NYSE: F  ) , say reviewers.

But Hyundai is looking past hybrids, and past battery-powered electrics -- and could be poised to leap to the fore of the field with the first-ever, mass-produced, fuel-cell vehicle. In this video, Fool.com contributor John Rosevear looks at Hyundai's surprising plans for a fuel-cell-powered electric SUV -- one that the company hopes to be selling in a big way in just a couple of years.

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Debunking the Myth of Netflix's "Unsustainable" Business Model

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) is really a very simple business in its streaming-focused incarnation. Spend money on content licenses and original shows, pay a minuscule amount of upkeep to keep the digital streams rolling, and cash in large profits as the as-yet-unmatched service attracts millions of new subscribers with very low marginal overhead costs.

The picture grows a tiny bit murkier when you factor in the costs of expanding the service to new international markets, but domestic streaming has become more profitable than the DVD-based cash cow. The long-term margin improvements from this strategy are juicy and undeniable.

But some industry watchers worry that Netflix is spending itself into a corner. The chief proponent of this theory is Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who takes every opportunity to call Netflix's model "unsustainable." The Street writer Rocco Pendola is another heavy critic, and Pendola just launched another attack on Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' "smoke and mirrors, dog and pony show."

In this diatribe, Pendola leans heavily on the assumption that Netflix is spending money faster than making it. Here's the keystone to the entire argument, quoted from an earlier Pendola article:

See if you notice a pattern in this series of numbers: $194,499, $150,419, $175,207, $159,199, $508,053, $395,992, $402,251, $370,298, $290,291. Those numbers represent, in chronological order (and in thousands), Netflix's cash and cash equivalents over the last nine quarters, ranging from the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010, to the most recent reported quarter ending Dec. 31, 2012. ...

That pop -- from $159,199 to $508,053 -- came when Netflix had to hit the market for extra cash at the end of 2011 as things really began to unravel.

At first glance, it all makes sense. Netflix is borrowing money and not building up cash reserves. A classic scam, right? Pendola compares it to maxing out his credit card to pay utility and grocery bills.

But where did Netflix spend that 2011 cash infusion? That's a question Pendola doesn't seem interested in answering. Here, let me help:

NFLX Cash and ST Investments data by YCharts.

The "cash equivalents" that Pendola focused his wrath on don't include Netflix's short-term investments, which are securities not quite liquid enough to count as cash. It's a bundle of low-risk assets, mainly "corporate debt securities, government and agency securities and asset and mortgage-backed securities." Hardly cash burned on an open fire, nor pumped into risky content bets.

Taking all of this into account, that scary sequence of falling cash balances loses its sting. Compare and contrast:

I think it's pretty obvious from the stable net cash line that Netflix is being responsible with its cash reserves. Pendola missed a vital component of this calculation, which led him to believe that Hastings is basically tricking investors. If you make the same mistake, you might confuse a rock-solid and opportunistic business with an unstable mess, thus missing out on a tremendous investment.

Want more analysis on Netflix?
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Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014

Cotai is no doubt the hottest area of Macau for gaming and Wynn Resorts' (NASDAQ: WYNN  ) results from the first quarter are another data point showing one of the downsides to this trend. Macau's gaming revenue overall was up 14.8% in the first quarter, but Wynn's revenue was only up 4.4% because its only resort is on the Macau Peninsula. Casinos won't average 14.8% growth across the board because Las Vegas Sands' (NYSE: LVS  ) Sands Cotai Central added some capacity vs. last year but we definitely see gaming dollars moving to Cotai, which hurts Wynn.

Cotai is where it's at
Wynn is the first of Macau's operators to report earnings so this is our first peek into earnings trends. The VIP segment was down 15.3% from a year ago despite a higher-than-expected win percentage. VIP dollars can swing wildly based on junket movement and, with Galaxy and Las Vegas Sands opening new junket rooms, Wynn has lost out on some business there.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: MGIC Investment Corp (MTG)

MGIC Investment Corporation (MGIC), incorporated June 21, 1984, is a holding company and through wholly owned subsidiaries is a private mortgage insurer in the United States. As of December 31, 2012, its principal mortgage insurance subsidiaries, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC) and MGIC Indemnity Corporation (MIC), were each licensed in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. During the year ending December 31, 2012, the Company wrote new insurance in each of those jurisdictions in MGIC and/or MIC. The Company capitalized MIC to write new insurance in certain jurisdictions where MGIC no longer meets, and is unable to obtain a waiver of, those jurisdictions��minimum capital requirements. Private mortgage insurance covers losses from homeowner defaults on residential mortgage loans, reducing and, in some instances, eliminating the loss to the insured institution if the homeowner defaults.

Mortgage Insurance

Primary insurance provides mortgage default protection on individual loans and covers unpaid loan principal, delinquent interest and certain expenses associated with the default and subsequent foreclosure. Primary insurance is written on first mortgage loans secured by owner occupied single-family homes, which are one-to-four family homes and condominiums. Primary insurance is also written on first liens secured by non-owner occupied single-family homes, which are referred to in the home mortgage lending industry as investor loans, and on vacation or second homes. Primary coverage can be used on any type of residential mortgage loan instrument approved by the mortgage insurer.

When a borrower refinances a mortgage loan insured by the Company by paying it off in full with the proceeds of a new mortgage that is also insured by it, the insurance on that existing mortgage is cancelled, and insurance on the new mortgage is considered to be new primary insurance written. Therefore, continuation of its coverage fr! om a refinanced loan to a new loan results in both a cancellation of insurance and new insurance written. When a lender and borrower modify a loan rather than replace it with a new one, or enter into a new loan pursuant to a loan modification program, its insurance continues without being cancelled assuming that the Company consent to the modification or new loan.

The borrower�� mortgage loan instrument requires the borrower to pay the mortgage insurance premium. There are several payment plans available to the borrower, or lender, as the case may be. Under the monthly premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a monthly premium payment to provide only one month of coverage. Under the annual premium plan, an annual premium is paid to it in advance, and it earns and recognizes the premium over the next 12 months of coverage, with annual renewal premiums paid in advance thereafter and earned over the subsequent 12 months of coverage. Under the single premium plan, the borrower or lender pays it a single payment covering a specified term exceeding twelve months.

Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. Pool insurance is used as an additional credit enhancement for certain secondary market mortgage transactions. Pool insurance covers the excess of the loss on a defaulted mortgage loan, which exceeds the claim payment under the primary coverage, if primary insurance is required on that mortgage loan, as well as the total loss on a defaulted mortgage loan which did not require primary insurance. In general, the loans insured by it in Wall Street bulk transactions consisted of loans with reduced underwriting documentation; cash out! refinanc! es, which exceed the standard underwriting requirements of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (collectively GSEs); A- loans; subprime loans, and jumbo loans.

Other Products and Services

The Company has participated in risk sharing arrangements with the GSEs and captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements with subsidiaries of certain mortgage lenders, which reinsure a portion of the risk on loans originated or serviced by the lenders, which have MGIC primary insurance. It provides information regarding captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements to the New York Department of Insurance (known as the New York Department of Financial Services), the Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, (HUD). It performs contract underwriting services for lenders, in which it judges whether the data relating to the borrower and the loan contained in the lender�� mortgage loan application file comply with the lender�� loan underwriting guidelines. It also provides an interface to submit data to the automated underwriting systems of the GSEs, which independently judge the data. These services are provided for loans, which require private mortgage insurance, as well as for loans that do not require private mortgage insurance. It provides mortgage services for the mortgage finance industry, such as portfolio retention and secondary marketing of mortgages.

The Company competes with Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Administration, PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation, United Guaranty Residential Insurance Company, Radian Guaranty Inc., CMG Mortgage Insurance Company, and Essent Guaranty, Inc.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: China Xlx Fertiliser Ltd. (B9R.SI)

China XLX Fertiliser Ltd., an investment holding company, engages in the manufacture, sale, and trade of urea, compound fertilizers, methanol, and liquid ammonia and ammonia solution in Mainland China. The company offers urea that provides nitrogen to crops and serves as raw material for agricultural fertilizers, plastic, resin, coating materials and pharmaceutical industries; and methanol that is used in the industrial production of formaldehyde, synthetic fiber, plastic, pharmaceutical, pesticides, dye, and synthetic proteins, as well as used as fuel and energy resource in power stations. Its compound fertilizers can be used as ground fertilizer or added fertilizer and are suitable for growing wheat, paddy, corn, peanuts, tobacco, fruit trees, vegetables, and cotton. China XLX Fertiliser Ltd. also exports its products to the United States, south east Asia, and south Asia. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Xinxiang, the People�s Republic of China.

Best Dividend Companies To Invest In Right Now: cineworld group ORD GBP0.01 WI(CINE.L)

Cineworld Group plc, an investment holding company, engages in the operation of cinemas for the exhibition of films and related retail activity in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its theatres showcase 3D, live sport, live opera, interactive gaming, or corporate presentations. The company promotes interest in a range of films beyond the traditional Hollywood blockbuster in such areas as Bollywood, other foreign language, and small and mid-range films. It also engages in cinema property leasing and screen advertising activities. As of 30 December 2010, the company operated 78 cinemas with 801 screens. Cineworld Group plc was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: L Brands Inc (LTD)

L Brands, Inc., formerly Limited Brands, Inc, incorporated on March 16, 1982, operates in the specialty retail business. The Company is a specialty retailer of women�� intimate and other apparel, beauty and personal care products and accessories. The Company operates in two segments: Victoria�� Secret and Bath & Body Works. It sells its merchandise through Company-owned specialty retail stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, which are primarily mall-based, and through Websites, catalogue and international franchise, license and wholesale partners. The Company operates in brands, such as Victoria�� Secret, Victoria�� Secret Pink, Bath & Body Works, La Senza, and Henri Bendel. The Company�� business for both the Victoria�� Secret and Bath & Body Works segments is principally conducted from office, distribution and shipping facilities located in the Columbus, Ohio area.

As of February 2, 2013, it operated 255 retail stores located in leased facilities, primarily in malls and shopping centers, throughout the Canadian provinces. As of February 2, 2013, it operated two retail stores in London. As of February 2, 2013, it operated 2,619 retail stores located in leased facilities, primarily in malls and shopping centers, throughout the United States. As of February 2, 2013, it also had 339 licensed La Senza stores in 32 countries; 38 franchised Bath & Body Works stores in nine countries; three franchised Victoria's Secret stores in two Middle Eastern countries, and 108 independently owned Victoria�� Secret Beauty and Accessories stores and various small-format locations in over 50 countries.

Victoria�� Secret, including Victoria�� Secret Pink, is a specialty retailer of women�� intimate and other apparel with fragrances and cosmetics, supermodels and runway shows. The Company sells its Victoria�� Secret products at more than 1,000 Victoria�� Secret stores in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and through the Victoria�� Secret catal! ogue and online at www.VictoriasSecret.com. Additionally, Victoria�� Secret brand products are also sold in stores operated by partners under a franchise or wholesale model throughout the world.

Bath & Body Works is a specialty retailer of home fragrance and personal care products, including shower gels, lotions, soaps and sanitizers. The Company sells its Bath & Body Works products at more than 1,600 Bath & Body Works stores in the United States and Canada and online at www.BathandBodyWorks.com. Additionally, Bath & Body Works brand products are available at franchise locations throughout the world.

La Senza is a specialty retailer of women�� intimate apparel. The Company sells its La Senza products at more than 150 La Senza stores in Canada and online at www.LaSenza.com. Additionally, La Senza has more than 330 stores in 32 countries operating under franchise and licensing arrangements. Henri Bendel sells upscale accessory products through its New York flagship and 28 other stores, as well as online at www.HenriBendel.com.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  L Brands (LTD) rounds out our list of stocks that institutions hate right now. Don't feel bad if the name doesn't sound familiar; after unloading its namesake The Limited stores in the wake of the Great Recession, management picked the new name as a stopgap until it comes up with something better. Maybe that lackluster naming strategy is what's sending funds that own LTD running for the door. Funds sold 49 million shares of the firm in the first quarter, cutting their stake by more than half.

  L Brands' crown jewel is Victoria's Secret. The store chain has a strong brand with celebrity exposure, it operates in the extremely high margin lingerie business, and it sports an economic moat for its trouble. As retailers continue to look for their ideal model, Victoria's Secret will continue to be it.

  The firm's less entrenched brands, such as Bath & Body Works and Henri Bendel, don't sport the same level of an economic moat that Victoria's Secret does, but they've been buoyed by a stellar uptick in consumer spending in the last few quarters. As LTD looks for a new direction, investors can find some solace in the fact that management and investors are one in the same. Founder Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail own a massive chunk of outstanding shares, keeping incentives skewed towards owners over than management.

  Hefty margins and a big geographic footprint make LTD a solid way to gain retail exposure, even if the institutional investors don't agree.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc.(TBET)

Tibet Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, engages in the research, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of traditional Tibetan medicines. The company, through its operational entity, Yunnan Shangri-La Tibetan Pharmaceutical Group Limited (YSTP), develops products in China for promoting health in human respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems. Its commercialized products include 25 Ingredients Mandrake Pill, which is used to regulate menses to treat endometritis, pelvic inflammations, and women?s anemia; 15 Ingredients Gentiana Pill to treat bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and hoarseness; 28 Ingredients Pinang Pill for treating cold waist hip pain, pus hematuria, and testis swelling; 18 Ingredients Chebulic (Myrobalan) Frusemide Pill for the treatment of kidney problems, lumbar and kidney pain, frequent urination, turbid urine, diabetes, and spermatorrhea; and Pomegranate Nichirin Pill to treat indigestion, back and leg pain, frequent urination, foot edema, impotence, and nocturnal emission. The company also develops Xuezang Guben pill indicated for the treatment of neurasthenia, insomnia, frequent urination, nocturnal emission, and women?s menopausal symptoms; Shengke I that is in Phase III clinical testing for treating type II diabetes; Shengke II, which is in Phase II clinical testing for treating impotence and premature ejaculation, prostrate disease, and memory loss; Jiuzan pill that is in Phase II clinical testing for the treatment of chronic gastroenteritis and peptic ulcers; and Antai pill, a pre-clinical stage product for treating hepatitis B. In addition, it focuses to commercialize Wupeng Pill for treating echimococosis, pandora tingling disease, diphtheria, anthrax, yellow water disease, and leprosy. The company was formerly known as Shangri-La Tibetan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and changed its name to Tibet Pharmaceuticals Inc. in July 2010. Tibet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is headquartered in Wanchai, Hong Kong.

Best Prefered Stocks To Watch For 2014: Sound Global Ltd. (E6E.SI)

Sound Global Ltd., an investment holding company, provides water and wastewater treatment solutions in the People�s Republic of China. The company offers design, procurement, engineering, and construction services for turnkey facilities for the treatment of municipal wastewater or sewage, and industrial wastewater from various industries for release into the environment; and facilities for the treatment of tap water, as well as constructs water and wastewater facilities for its build, operate, and transfer projects. It also provides professional operations and maintenance services to local or municipal governments, which include operation and maintenance of water and wastewater treatment facilities. In addition, the company manufactures standard and customized water and waste water treatment equipment, such as grit removers, sludge scrappers, sludge dehydrators, oxidation ditches and SBR equipment, and sludge scrappers for tap water treatment plants; and sells treated wat er. Further, it offers equipment procurement services comprising technical advice and assistance to customers on the equipment that they need for their treatment facilities; procuring equipment for the customers from third party equipment manufacturers based on their technical requirements; and technical and design services to municipal governments, industrial enterprises, and other water and wastewater treatment facilities contractors. The company was formerly known as Epure International Ltd. and changed its name to Sound Global Ltd. in May 2010. The company was founded in 1993 and is based in Beijing, the People�s Republic of China. Sound Global Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sound Water (BVI) Limited.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014

It's been a long time coming for both natural gas and solar as viable sources of energy in the United States. Both have been struggling with a lack of consumer and industrial buy-in, but both could be right around the corner. Is either one standing out at the moment?

The debate is on
In the following video, Motley Fool analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman each weigh in on how natural gas and solar have been performing lately and which companies are taking the lead. Both options have made progress recently, with Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE  ) building out its "America's Natural Gas Highway" initiative and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) producing more efficient solar panels.

Has Clean Energy Fuels solved the "chicken-or-the-egg" debate?
The movement toward alternative energy is gaining momentum. One potential opportunity in this field is Clean Energy Fuels, which focuses its natural gas efforts primarily on trucking and fleets. It's poised to make a big impact on an essential industry. Learn everything you need to know about Clean Energy Fuels in The Motley Fool's premium research report on the company. Just click here now to claim your copy today.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: NMDC Ltd (NMDC.NS)

NMDC Limited (NMDC) is an India-based iron ore producer and exporter. The Company operates in two business segments: iron ore and other minerals and services. The Company is engaged in the exploration of a range of minerals including iron ore, copper, rock phosphate, lime stone, dolomite, gypsum, bentonite, magnesite, diamond, tin, tungsten, graphite, and beach sands. As of March 31, 2012, it produced about 30 million tons of iron ore from three fully mechanized mines, which include Bailadila Deposit-14/11C, Bailadila Deposit-5, 10/11A (Chhattisgarh State) and Donimalai Iron Ore Mines (Karnataka State). As of March 31, 2012, NMDC supplied 269.16 lakh tons of iron ore to domestic industries and had exported 3.85 lakh tons of iron ore. Its sponge Iron production was at 37,260 tons and its diamond production was 18043.44 carats during the year fiscal ended March 31,2012. On December 12, 2011, the Company's wholly owned subsidiary NMDC Power Ltd was incorporated.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Virginia Mines Inc (VGQ.TO)

Virginia Mines Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and exploitation of various mining exploration properties in Canada. The company primarily explores for gold and base metal deposits primarily in James Bay area, Quebec. It has a strategic alliance with Wemindji Exploration Inc. to carry out geological reconnaissance, sampling, and exploration work in middle north Quebec; and KGHM International Ltd. to carry out geological reconnaissance, sampling, and exploration work in northern Quebec. The company is headquartered in Quebec, Canada. As of March 31, 2006, Virginia Mines Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Goldcorp Inc.

Hot Dividend Companies For 2014: Swift Energy Company(SFY)

Swift Energy Company engages in acquiring, exploring, developing, and operating oil and natural gas properties. It focuses on inland waters and onshore oil and natural gas reserves in Louisiana and Texas. As of December 31, 2010, the company had estimated proved reserves of 132.8 million barrels of oil equivalent. Swift Energy Company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Trans World Entertainment Corp.(TWMC)

Trans World Entertainment Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of entertainment software products, including music, video, video games, and other related products through its retail stores and e-commerce sites in the United States. The company?s other related products include electronics, accessories, and trend items. As of January 29, 2011, it operated 376 mall-based stores under the For Your Entertainment (f.y.e.), Suncoast Motion Pictures, and Saturday Matinee brand names in regional shopping malls; 84 freestanding stores under the f.y.e. brand name; and 3 retail Websites, including fye.com, wherehouse.com, and secondspin.com. The company operates retail stores in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Trans World Entertainment Corporation was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Albany, New York.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: (NFYEF)

New Flyer Industries, Inc. a Canadian Income Fund, operates as an unincorporated open-ended trust in Canada. The fund engages in the manufacture and sale of heavy duty transit buses in the United States and Canada. It uses various propulsion systems, including diesel electric or gasoline electric hybrid systems, compressed natural gas or liquid natural gas systems, and zero emission electric trolleys in heavy duty transit buses. The fund also provides aftermarket parts and services, including parts distribution, field services, support documentation, and training, as well as bus parts. It supplies heavy duty transit buses primarily to municipal and local transit authorities. New Flyer was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul Goodwin]

  Second, New Flyer Industries (NFYEF.PK/NFI.TO) stock has been accelerating since January 19th.  The unusual action prompted regulators to ask New Flyer to disclose that New Flyer has been in discussions "regarding a potential commercial and strategic relationship."  But company CEO Paul Soubry says there are no deals closing, and several analysts agree.

  The stock has been incredibly under-priced since last summer.  North American transit bus orders have been slow for the past two years, and New Flyer has been reducing its backlog as a result.  But the flip side of the slow bus market has been a rapidly aging bus fleet and increasing pressure on transit operators to replace aging buses. 

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc (LTS)

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc., an investment bank, through its subsidiaries, provides independent brokerage and advisory services primarily to corporate and institutional clients, and high net-worth individuals in the United States. Its independent brokerage and advisory services include securities brokerage and advisory services for mutual funds, variable annuities, and advisor managed accounts packaged products; and asset management products and services comprise asset management program, investment consulting services, alternative strategies fund, private investment management program, retirement plan sponsor services, alternative investments, architect program, and third-party advisory services. The company�s brokerage support services comprise access to stock and options execution; products, such as insurance, mutual funds, unit trusts, and investment advisory programs; and research, compliance, supervision, accounting, and related services. The company also provides trust administration services consisting of personal and retirement accounts, estate and financial planning, wealth management, and custody services. In addition, it offers investment banking services, such as corporate finance, and strategic and financial advisory, and securities underwriting services; engages in institutional sales and trading operation; and provides research services, including reviewing and analyzing general market conditions and other industry groups, issuing written reports on companies, furnishing information to retail and institutional customers, and responding to inquires from customers and account executives. Further, the company is involved in purchasing, selling, and holding securities for use in investment activities. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. was founded in 1876 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior S.A. (BLX)

Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. provides trade financing to commercial banks, middle-market companies, and corporations primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company operates in three segments: Commercial, Treasury, and Asset Management. The Commercial segment offers deposits and loans for foreign trade transactions. This segment also provides various products, services, and solutions relating to foreign trade, which include co-financing arrangements, underwriting of syndicated credit facilities, structured trade financing, asset-based financing in the form of factoring, vendor financing and leasing, and other fee-based services, such as electronic clearing services. The Treasury segment offers liquidity management and investment securities activities, including management of interest rate, liquidity, price, and currency risks. The Asset Management segment provides asset management services, including investment advisory services for funds and managed accounts. This division is involved in trading foreign exchange, interest rate swaps, and derivative products. The company was formerly known as Banco Latinoamericano de Exportaciones, S.A. and changed its name to Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. in June 2009. Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior, S.A. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Panama City, the Republic of Panama.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Plantronics Inc.(PLT)

Plantronics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and marketing of lightweight communications headsets, telephone headset systems, and accessories for the business and consumer markets under the Plantronics name worldwide. It also offers specialty telephone products, such as telephones for the hearing impaired and other related products for people with special communication needs under the Clarity brand name. The company?s products are designed for specific markets and applications, such as offices; contact centers; mobile devices comprising mobile phones and smart phones; computer and gaming; and residential applications, as well as for other specialty applications. It sells its products through a network of distributors, retailers, wireless carriers, original equipment manufacturers, and telephony service providers. The company was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Crossland Uranium Mines Ltd(CUX.AX)

Crossland Uranium Mines Limited engages in the exploration, evaluation, and development of mineral deposits in Australia. The company primarily explores for uranium, diamonds, and base metals. It holds interests in the Chilling and Charley Creek projects located in Northern Territory; the Kalabity project located in South Australia; and the Lake Woods project located in Lake Woods. The company is based in Darwin, Australia.

Top 10 Trucking Stocks To Buy For 2014: Vestin Realty Mortgage II Inc.(VRTB)

Vestin Realty Mortgage II, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), invests in short-term loans secured by real estate through deeds of trust or mortgages. The company offers various real estate loans, including commercial property, construction, acquisition and development, raw and unimproved land, and residential loans. It operates in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas. The company has elected to be treated as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. As a REIT, it would not be subject to federal income tax, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its shareholders. Vestin Realty Mortgage II was founded in 2000 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Emerging Stocks Fall, Heading for Biggest Monthly Loss in a Year

Emerging-market stocks fell, heading for the biggest monthly loss in a year, as India's economy grew less than 5 percent for a second quarter and investors awaited the release of Chinese manufacturing data.

Utility shares led declines, with Huaneng Power International Inc., a unit of China's largest electricity producer, dropping 3.1 percent. HDFC Bank Ltd., India's most valuable lender, tumbled the most in two months. Shangdong Weigao Group Medical Polymer Co. jumped 14 percent after profit increased. India's rupee weakened, heading for its biggest monthly loss in 12 months.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 0.3 percent to 1,012.93 at 2:44 p.m. in Hong Kong, bound for its lowest close since April 23. The gauge has slumped 2.5 percent in May and most developing-nation currencies have fallen amid concern the Federal Reserve will reduce debt purchases as the economy recovers.

"Investors are concerned about the pace of recovery in China and the chance the Fed may scale back stimulus," Laurentia Amica Darmawan, who helps manage $530 million at PT First State Investment Indonesia, said by phone in Jakarta.

India's S&P BSE Sensex sank 1.2 percent, the most in a week and paring a monthly advance. HDFC Bank retreated 2.6 percent from a record to 206 rupees.

The nation's economy grew 4.8 percent in January through March from a year earlier, up from a revised 4.7 percent in the previous quarter, the government said today. The report matched the median of 33 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. GDP climbed 5 percent in the 12 months ended March, below the past decade's average of about 8 percent.

The rupee weakened 0.2 percent to 56.47 per dollar, taking its decline this month to 4.9 percent, on concern any reduction in bond-buying by the Fed will curb dollar supply, leaving the Asian currency vulnerable to a record current-account deficit.

Fed Policy

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week the central bank could reduce the pace of bond purchases if there is a sustained improvement in growth.

Foreign funds were net sellers of stocks in Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines this week. Global investors pulled $224 million from emerging-market bond funds in the week through May 29, Morgan Stanley said in a report yesterday, citing data published by EPFR Global.

A gauge tracking utility companies on MSCI's developing-nation index declined 0.8 percent, the among the 10 industry groups. Huaneng Power retreated 3.2 percent to HK$8.

China Manufacturing

Data tomorrow will show China's purchasing managers index fell to 50 from 50.6 the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg survey. The 50 level divides expansion and contraction.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) slumped 0.8 percent, taking its loss for May to 2.8 percent.

Shangdong Weigao Group Medical Polymer jumped 17 percent to HK$9.63. First-quarter net income rose to 228 million yuan ($37.2 million) from 214 million yuan a year earlier.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index's loss this month compares with a 1 percent gain in the MSCI World Index of developed countries and a 0.4 percent drop in the Standard & Poor's GSCI gauge of 24 commodities.

Thailand's baht fell 2.8 percent this month and the Philippine peso declined 2.7 percent, reaching an 11-month low yesterday.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2014

One of the best ways to make a lot of money in stocks is to invest in dividend-paying stocks. After all, a company that is able to commit to regularly rewarding its shareholders with a payout of cash is a company that's relatively stable, with a sufficiently predictable profit stream. There are pitfalls within the world of dividend investing, though. Here are some tips to help you avoid common blunders.

Don't overshoot
It's easy to be drawn to sky-high dividend yields. Who wouldn't favor a 10% yield over a 3% one, after all? Plenty of 10% yields are solid, but plenty are tied to companies on shaky ground. The best explanation for that is math: A dividend yield is simply a ratio, dividing a stock's annual dividend payout by its current stock price, and then expressing that result as a percentage. Thus, if the stock price falls sharply, you'll be dividing the dividend by a smaller number, and the yield will be bigger. Huge dividend yields are sometimes due to a company simply having a lot of excess cash to distribute, but sometimes they reflect a company in temporary or permanent trouble that has seen its price plunge.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2014: National Security Group Inc.(NSEC)

The National Security Group, Inc., an insurance holding company, provides various property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Property and Casualty Insurance, and Life Insurance. The Property and Casualty Insurance segment primarily provides personal lines coverage, including dwelling fire and windstorm, homeowners, mobile homeowners, ocean marine, and personal non-standard automobile lines of insurance in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, and operates on a surplus lines basis in the states of Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. The Life Insurance segment principally offers ordinary life, accident and health, supplemental hospital, and cancer insurance products in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. The company markets its products through a field force of agents and career agents, as well as thr ough a network of independent agents and brokers. The National Security Group, Inc. was founded in 1947 and is based in Elba, Alabama.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2014: First Resources Limited (EB5.SI)

First Resources Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the cultivation and maintenance of oil palm plantations primarily in Singapore and Indonesia. It is also involved in the harvesting and milling the fresh fruit bunches into crude palm oil and palm kernel products, as well as in oil palm seed breeding and rubber plantation activities. In addition, the company markets and sells processed palm based products. It manages 130,000 hectares of oil palms plantations; and operates 9 palm oil mills in Indonesia. Further, the company owns and manages aircrafts. First Resources Limited was founded in 1992 and is based in Singapore.

Top 10 New Stocks To Watch Right Now: Golfsmith International Holdings Inc.(GOLF)

Golfsmith International Holdings, Inc. operates as a specialty retailer of golf and tennis equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. Its stores offer branded clubs, balls, apparel, and accessories, as well as its proprietary-branded products, including Clubmaker, Golfsmith, Killer Bee, J.G.Hickory, Lynx, Profinity, Snake Eyes, TourTrek, XPC, Zevo, Maggie Lane, ZTech, and MacGregor. The company?s stores also provide club components, clubmaking tools, supplies and on-site clubmaking, custom club-fitting, and club repair services; and hitting areas, putting greens, ball-launch monitor technology, and club demos. In addition, its stores offer golf and tennis lessons, tennis equipment, and tennis racquet maintenance and repair services, as well as partial-flight indoor driving ranges. Further, the company develops and promotes proprietary merchandise, including clubs, club components, apparel, golf bags and covers, pull and push carts, shoes, furnishings, accessories, tra ining aids, and gifts. As of January 25, 2012, it operated 79 stores in the United States. Golfsmith International Holdings also offers its products through catalog and Internet sales. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2014: PS Business Parks Inc.(PSB)

PS Business Parks, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, development, ownership, and operation of commercial properties primarily multi-tenant flex, office, and industrial space. As of December 31, 2007, the company owned and operated approximately 19.6 million rentable square feet of commercial space located in Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, as well as managed approximately 1.4 million rentable square feet. It also owned approximately 6.4 acres of land in Northern Virginia; 14.9 acres in Portland, Oregon; and 10.0 acres in Dallas, Texas for the development of commercial properties. PS Business Parks has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code and would not be subject to federal income tax to the extent it distributes at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to its shareholders. The company was founded in 1983. It was formerly known as P ublic Storage Properties XI, Inc. and changed its name to PS Business Parks, Inc. in 1998. The company is based in Glendale, California.

Top High Dividend Companies To Own For 2014: Grupo Radio Centro S.A. de C.V.(RC)

Grupo Radio Centro, S.A.B. de C.V., a radio broadcasting company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the production and broadcasting of music, entertainment, news, and special event programs in Mexico. The company owns and operates 15 radio stations, which comprise 5 AM and 6 FM stations in Mexico City, 2 AM stations in Guadalajara and Monterrey, and 1 FM station in Los Angeles, as well as 1 AM radio station in Mexico City that is operated and managed by a third party. It also operates Organizaci

This Little SUV Is a Big Deal for Ford

3 Stocks Sending the Dow Higher Today

For the first time this week, the stock market has stayed relatively calm in trading. Following a pair of triple-digit moves to start out the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) has stayed somewhat more restrained in its enthusiasm today, climbing 66 points as of 1:15 p.m. EDT. Mixed economic news kept the stock market in check near the open but then led some investors to conclude that the likelihood of more accommodation from the Federal Reserve might make uncertainty about future economic conditions the best possible outcome for stocks, at least for now.

Looking at the top performers in the Dow so far today reveals some other clues about what's happening in the broader market. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC  ) has continued its recent run higher, jumping 2.7% to hit another 52-week high. Rising interest rates have spooked the overall market lately, but for B of A and other banks, a potentially steeper yield curve could actually benefit the bank. Rising net interest margin would help the bank boost its profit, albeit with the attendant cost of a likely decline in mortgage-refinancing activity that would inevitably accompany higher long-term rates.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO  ) also ranks among the Dow's best gainers, rising 1.7% and continuing a trend that we've seen among tech stocks in recent days. As the Dow has climbed higher, more investors have looked for value propositions, and they have found the usual suspects in defensive sectors like consumer staples wanting. One big wild card for Cisco is whether the U.S. government will make it easier for it and its tech peers to repatriate offshore cash, as the networking giant has a huge portion of its cash hoard outside U.S. borders.

Finally, Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) has also climbed 1.5% after it received its first orders for the 787-10X version of its Dreamliner aircraft. Even though the program to build the stretched-out version of the Dreamliner hasn't even gotten off the ground yet, Singapore Airlines was willing to make its order with the expectation of receiving aircraft beginning in 2018 or 2019. Given the huge potential in the aerospace industry, this order should be only the first of many that Boeing will receive in the months and years to come, and that's a compelling long-term support for the stock.

Learn more about how Boeing will live up to its shareholder responsibilities by reading our premium research report on the company. Inside, two of The Motley Fool's best industrial-sector minds have collaborated to provide investors with the must-know info on Boeing. They'll be updating the report as key news hits, so don't miss out -- simply click here now to claim your copy today.

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More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

The Motley Fool's chief investment officer has selected his No. 1 stock for the next year. Find out which stock in our brand-new free report: "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." I invite you to take a copy, free for a limited time. Just click here to access the report and find out the name of this under-the-radar company.

3 Things to Love About BT Group

LONDON -- There are things to love and loathe about most companies. Today, I'm going to tell you about three things to love about BT Group  (LSE: BT-A  ) (NYSE: BT  ) .

I'll also be asking whether these positive factors make this FTSE 100 telecommunications company a good investment today.

Hanging on the telephone
Ian Livingston was appointed chief executive of BT part way through the company's financial year ending March 2009. BT's operating margin plummeted to 5.4% that year and the group made a bottom-line loss.

Since then, though, Livingston has rebuilt margins impressively: 10.4% (2010), 13.1% (2011), 14.5% (2012), and 16.6% (2013). Profits and earnings per share have been growing nicely and there appears to be good momentum in the business.

Don't look back in anger
BT has cut its dividend twice since the turn of the millennium; not the kind of track record investors like to see. However, driving a car by looking only in the rearview mirror isn't the wisest idea, and, similarly, focusing solely on a company's potholed dividend past may prevent us from seeing what might be a smoother income road ahead.

At the start of its 2012/13 financial year, BT told shareholders: "We intend to increase the dividend per share by 10%-15% per year for the next three years." BT released solid annual results earlier this month. The board lifted the dividend 14% and reiterated its intention to deliver 10%-15% annual increases through to 2014/15. There aren't too many companies around with the confidence to make such a generous dividend commitment.

Football's coming home
Competition is good for consumers. As an armchair consumer of Premier League football, I'm delighted to see Sky's stranglehold on "the beautiful game" being challenged by BT, who will be offering 38 live Premier League games next season -- and other sports -- free to any BT broadband customer.

It's good for sports consumers, but is it good for BT shareholders? Well, in a world where punters are increasingly favoring a phones, broadband, and TV package, it makes sense for BT to aggressively land-grab a share of this fertile territory where BSkyB and Virgin Media are also staking claims.

A good investment?
Newsflow from BT has been positive for some time now, and the shares -- currently trading at 308 pence -- have soared 50% over the last 12 months.

Despite the rise, though, BT is on a forecast multiple of 12 times earnings for the year to March 2014, which is below the rating of the wider market. Meanwhile, the prospective dividend yield of 3.5% is also attractive relative to the market, and comes with the added appeal of BT's bountiful growth intentions for the shareholder payout.

Finally, if you already have BT tucked away in your portfolio and are looking for blue chip shares in other sectors, you may want to help yourself to the very latest free Motley Fool report.

You see, the Fool's top analysts have identified a select group of FTSE 100 companies that they believe will deliver superior long-term capital and income growth. Such is their conviction about the quality of these businesses that they've called the report "5 Shares To Retire On."

You can download this free report right now -- simply click here.

The Next Game Changer for Apple Stock?

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) stock slid during Tuesday's trading session despite a strong surge in the broader market that saw the S&P 500 climb more than 0.5%. One possible reason for the decline is a research note out of Citigroup that strongly suggests margins will continue to face pressure as consumers opt for lower-priced devices. Apple stock, which topped $700 last fall, fell below $400 recently and has traded in the mid-$400 range ever since. Regardless of Cupertino's ability to innovate, if Wall Street sees margins come under pressure, this may be the game-changing catalyst needed to break the current trading range. Unfortunately, it looks like it could be to the downside.

Opinion in the Citi on Apple stock
In a recently released research note, Citi's Glen Yeung reiterated his neutral rating, citing concerns over margin pressures at Apple. The driving force behind these pressures, in Yeung's opinion, is a product mix that is shifting toward cheaper products. Not only is Apple selling more older iPhones -- including the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S -- it is poised to release a cheaper iPhone. He also referenced the possibility that the company may release cheaper version of the iPad to be more competitive with various Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android tablets, like the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire.

Last March, IDC reported that Android tablets had continued to expand their market share at the expense of iOS devices. A reasonable driver of this trend is the price difference that exists between Android and iOS tablets. According to the report, Android will command 48.8% of the market in 2013, relative to 46% for iOS. Additionally, IDC sees a significant shift to smaller tablets as the preferred size.

There are rumors that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) wants to get into the cheap tablet game with the possibility that it will acquire the remaining piece of Nook Media that it does not own. This would allow the company to round out its own tablet offerings beyond the Surface RT and Surface Pro, each of which carries much higher price tags. While an insider denies the rumor, the acquisition could make the company's tablet offerings more interesting. Competition is the small tablet space from both Google and Microsoft has kept pressure on Cupertino and had a negative impact on Apple stock.

Ultimately, Yeung sees the margin pressures that the weakening product mix creates as a negative for Apple stock, and a significant reason that shares will remain range-bound looking ahead. Adding to this pressure is the fact that global growth rates are slowing based on mobile saturation. These combined pressures may keep Apple stock from returning to previous highs in the foreseeable future.

Market pressures
Beyond company-specific headwinds, the overall position of the equity market should be a concern for anyone interested in Apple stock. Stocks have been on an impressive run, but it cannot last indefinitely. There is a strong argument that the rally has been created by the action of the Federal Reserve. As an increasing contingent of the FOMC begins to consider slowing or reversing the current policies of quantitative easing, there is real concern that the rally could fizzle.

The single greatest threat to Apple stock over the next several months is the direction of the broader stock market. In the absence of a real game-changing product, Apple will be subject to the vagaries of the overall equity market. Even if stocks can continue to run higher from here, a correction is likely over the course of the summer. When this happens, Apple stock is likely to fall to new near-term lows.

There's no doubt that Apple is at the center of technology's largest revolution ever, and that longtime shareholders have been handsomely rewarded with more than 1,000% gains. However, there is a debate raging as to whether Apple remains a buy. The Motley Fool's senior technology analyst and managing bureau chief, Eric Bleeker, is prepared to fill you in on reasons to buy and sell Apple and the opportunities left for the company (and your portfolio) going forward. To get instant access to his latest thinking on Apple, simply click here now.

Should I Sell Diageo to Buy SABMiller?

LONDON -- I'm a big fan of Diageo (LSE: DGE  ) (NYSE: DEO  ) . The world's largest producer of premium spirits is a core holding in my portfolio, though I've done a little profit-taking as the stock has powered ahead -- up a third over the past 12 months.

I'm less familiar with South African-based SABMiller (LSE: SAB  ) (NASDAQOTH: SBMRY  ) , though its market cap is slightly larger than Diageo after its shares are up 50% over the year. I think of it as expensive, but a quick check on my data provider shows the two shares equally rated with prospective price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of 19.7 and yields of 2.3% for Diageo and 2.2% for SABMiller. So maybe it's time to do a little portfolio rebalancing.

Hangover
First of all, what's so good about Diageo? It ticks a lot of boxes: defensive sector, strong brands, global footprint, and emerging market growth. I like stocks that are plays on emerging market consumers. While the West is suffering a hangover from a decade of overspending, millions of people in emerging markets are acquiring a disposable income for the first time.

Diageo's really clever trick is the way acquisitions, brands, and distribution interact. The company has grown by buying local brand leaders, distributing the new brands globally while creating a new market to sell its existing brands into.

Too posh for Skegness
SABMiller is the world's second-largest brewery. It's even more of a play on emerging markets, which generate three quarters of EBITDA. Over 90% of sales come from markets where it has the highest or second-highest share. Its brand and distribution-led strategy is similar to Diageo's. It's an astute manager of brand value, ruffling feathers last month when it ruled a Skegness Hotel as too down market to stock its premium Peroni beer on tap.

SABMiller has just gone through a change of management, with the long-serving CEO who shaped the company in its present form stepping down in favor of an internal successor groomed for the job. It's the same story at Diageo, an indication of the board's confidence in management.

Valuations
SABMiller is a riskier share than Diageo. It has more concentration risk, with 40% of revenues coming from South Africa and Colombia combined. It is more dependent on joint ventures, in the U.S. and China. Governance is less straightforward, with its South African base, an interim period of combining chairman and CEO roles, and a 27% strategic shareholder.

Its vast opportunities in Africa and other emerging markets explain the equal valuations. So I think it's a reasonable share to hold at this price, but I'll keep the bulk of my play on this theme in Diageo.

Indeed, Diageo one of just five companies to make the grade for a new report from The Motley Fool: "5 Shares to Retire On." It shines a spotlight on companies that have dominant market positions, healthy balance sheets, and robust cash flows: qualities that underpin their reliability and future dividends. Whether you're saving for retirement or for any other purpose, I recommend you have a look at these five shares. You can download the report by clicking here -- it's free.

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Air Products to Expand in Chile

Top India Companies To Buy Right Now

There's a new individual in the CFO chair at Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE  ) . Following the resignation of Christie Kelly, the company has named Mark Denien as its new finance chief. Kelly stepped down to serve in the same position for fellow real estate purveyor Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL  ) . Denien will formally take up the position tomorrow.

Denien is currently Duke Realty's chief accounting officer, and is also senior vice president at the firm. He has been with the company since 2005; prior to that, he was a partner at KPMG in Indianapolis, where he worked for 16 years.

More Expert Advice from The Motley Fool

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Top India Companies To Buy Right Now: (MMFIN.BO)

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited, a non-banking finance company, primarily provides finance for utility vehicles, tractors, and cars. The company offers vehicle finance, such as tractor, utility vehicle, car, three-wheeler, commercial vehicle, and two-wheeler loans, as well as loans for construction equipment. It also provides home loans, including loans for construction, purchase, extension, and improvements; and personal loans for medical needs, educational needs, agricultural needs, and festival and marriage expenditures. In addition, the company offers direct life and non-life insurance broking for corporations and retail customers; mutual fund distribution services; and fixed deposits and auto refinance services. It primarily serves rural and semi-urban sectors in India. The company was formerly known as Maxi Motors Financial Services Limited and changed its name to Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited in November 1992. Mahindra & Mahindra Fina ncial Services Limited was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited is a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sy_Harding]

  The company has a strong presence in rural markets and derives about 90 percent of its revenues from there. Its business model reflects the company? nuanced understanding of the rural segment. As the demand for tractors grows, the company will be a direct beneficiary. 

Top India Companies To Buy Right Now: (JAINIRRIG.BO)

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, an agri-business company, primarily engages in the manufacture and sale of irrigation systems, piping products, agro processed products, and plastic sheets. It offers irrigation systems and components comprising drip irrigation systems, sprinkler irrigation systems, plastic control and safety valves, fertigation systems and chemigation equipment, and water filters; PVC pipes, PE pipes and PE pipe fittings, HDPE pipes, cable duct pipes, and gas pipes; and PVC plastic sheets and poly carbonate sheets. The company also provides food processing products, such as dehydrated onions and vegetables; and agriculture products, including biofertilizers, green houses plant nurseries, and tissue cultures, as well as processed fruits. In addition, it offers solar water heating systems, solar photovoltaic systems, and biogas power plants; hybrid and grafted plants; and poly and shade houses, as well as provides services turnkey project services, and agric ultural and engineering consultancy services. Jain Irrigation Systems Limited offers its solutions and services for the urban household, urban housing, community development, mining, plant tissue culture, chemical, oil and gas exploration, optic fiber ducting, advertisement and signage, landscaping, water shed development, waste land development, fruit and vegetable processing, and farm production and management markets, as well as for small farmers, green houses, and sugar factories. It primarily operates in India, Europe, and North America. The company was founded in 1963 and is based in Jalgaon, India.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthews]

  Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd headquartered in Jalgaon, Maharashtra manufactures drip and sprinkler irrigation systems and related components. The company also makes PVC, polyethelene, piping systems, processed fruits, dehydrated onions and vegetables, greenhouses, bio-fertilizers; solar water heating systems and solar photovoltaic appliances (Solar lighting systems) etc. All the products are made bearing in mind the need to conserve nature's precious resources through substitution or value addition.

  Jain Irrigation Systems is the largest irrigation company in India and also the world’s second largest. The company has the largest pool of agricultural scientists, engineers and technicians in the private sector.

Top 5 Restaurant Stocks To Invest In 2014: Stewart Information Services Corporation(STC)

Stewart Information Services Corporation provides title insurance and related information services required for settlement by the real estate and mortgage industries. It operates in two segments, Title Insurance-Related Services and Real Estate Information. The Title Insurance-Related Services segment offers services that include searching for and examining documents, such as deeds, mortgages, wills, divorce decrees, court judgments, liens, paving assessments, and tax records, as well as provides titles insurance for residential and commercial properties, undeveloped acreage, farms, ranches, and water rights. This segment serves attorneys, builders, developers, home buyers and home sellers, lenders, and real estate brokers. The Real Estate Information segment offers products and services, which primarily include lender services, title technology, foreign and domestic government services, mapping, title information, Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 tax-deferred property e xchanges, pre-employment services, and online filing and transaction management. Its customers include mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, mortgage investors, government entities, commercial and residential real estate agents, land developers, builders, title insurance agencies, and others interested in obtaining property information, as well as accountants, attorneys, investors, and employers. The company has operations primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, central Europe, Mexico, central America, and Australia. Stewart Information Services Corporation was founded in 1893 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Top India Companies To Buy Right Now: (COLPAL.NS)

Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of oral care and personal care products in India and internationally. The company?s oral care products include toothpastes, toothbrushes, toothpowder, mouthwashes, and whitening products. Its personal care products consist of body wash, liquid hand wash, shave preps, skin care, and hair care products. The company also offers household care products, which include a dish washing paste. In addition, it provides pet nutrition products. Further, the company provides various dental care products for gingivitis treatment, sensitivity treatment, tooth whitening, fluoride therapy, mouth ulcer treatment, and specialty cleaning. Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited sells its products primarily under the Colgate, Palmolive, Mennen, Ajax, Axion, Softsoap, and Hill?s Pet Nutrition brand names. The company was founded in 1937 and is based in Mumbai, India. Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited is a subsidiary of Colgate-Palm olive Company, U.S.A.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Paul]

  The spread of organised retail is opening up under-explored markets to fast-moving consumer goods companies. With 3 million rural distribution outlets and a leadership position in oral care products, Colgate is at the right place at the right time.

What Does Wall Street See for Shanda Games's Q1?

Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME  ) is expected to report Q1 earnings on May 23. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict Shanda Games's revenues will contract -21.7% and EPS will shrink -27.3%.

The average estimate for revenue is $172.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.16.

Revenue details
Last quarter, Shanda Games reported revenue of $172.1 million. GAAP reported sales were 19% lower than the prior-year quarter's $215.1 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.15. GAAP EPS of $0.12 for Q4 were 29% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.17 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 65.4%, 390 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 29.8%, 210 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 19.8%, 260 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $743.0 million. The average EPS estimate is $0.69.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 300 members out of 311 rating the stock outperform, and 11 members rating it underperform. Among 38 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 31 give Shanda Games a green thumbs-up, and seven give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Shanda Games is outperform, with an average price target of $4.38.

Software and computerized services are being consumed in radically different ways, on new and increasingly mobile devices. Many old leaders will be left behind. Whether or not Shanda Games makes the coming cut, you should check out the company that Motley Fool analysts expect to lead the pack in "The Next Trillion-dollar Revolution." Click here for instant access to this free report.

Add Shanda Games to My Watchlist.

Is Brink's Cash Machine Shutting Down?

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

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

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

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

Over the past 12 months, Brink's generated $85.1 million cash while it booked net income of $55.3 million. That means it turned 2.2% of its revenue into FCF. That doesn't sound so great.

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

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

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

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

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

With 21.8% of operating cash flow coming from questionable sources, Brink's investors should take a closer look at the underlying numbers. Within the questionable cash flow figure plotted in the TTM period above, other operating activities (which can include deferred income taxes, pension charges, and other one-off items) provided the biggest boost, at 25.3% of cash flow from operations. Overall, the biggest drag on FCF came from capital expenditures, which consumed 68.5% of cash from operations. Brink's investors may also want to keep an eye on accounts receivable, because the TTM change is 2.0 times greater than the average swing over the past 5 fiscal years.

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

Looking for alternatives to Brink's? It takes more than great companies to build a fortune for the future. Learn the basic financial habits of millionaires next door and get focused stock ideas in our free report, "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich." Click here for instant access to this free report.

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

Add Brink's to My Watchlist.

Yahoo!'s Next Big Fish?

The following video is from Tuesday's MarketFoolery podcast, in which host Chris Hill and analysts Jason Moser and Matt Koppenheffer discuss the top business and investing stories of the day.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) spent $1.1 billion on social media site Tumblr last week. This week, it is reportedly bidding for Hulu. It is also supposedly competing with DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV  ) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC  ) . Hulu has 4 million subscribers and brought in $695 million in revenue in 2012. What would a Hulu acquisition mean for Yahoo! shareholders? In this installment of MarketFoolery, our analysts discuss the deal.

The best investing approach is to choose great companies and stick with them for the long term. The Motley Fool's free report "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" names stocks that could help you build long-term wealth and retire well, along with some winning wealth-building strategies that every investor should be aware of. Click here now to keep reading.

The relevant video segment can be found between 9:05 and 13:56.

For the full video of today's MarketFoolery, click here .

1 Stock Getting Left Behind Today

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now

With economic data taking a backseat to a slew of better-than-expected earnings reports, the broad-based S&P 500 continues to knock off one all-time record close after another. For skeptics like me, that's an opportunity to see whether companies have earned their current valuations.

Keep in mind that some companies�deserve�their current valuations. Take railroad operator Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP  ) for example. Union Pacific grew profit by 11% in its most recent quarter as it was able to offset demand weakness in coal with higher prices. With many railroad operators predicting a pickup in shipments in the second half of the year, Union Pacific certainly looks to be in great shape moving forward.

Still, other companies might deserve a kick in the pants. Here's a look at three companies that could be worth selling.

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: Pfb Corp Com Npv (PFB.TO)

PFB Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and marketing of insulating building products based on expanded polystyrene (EPS) technology primarily for the residential and commercial construction projects in North America. The company markets its products primarily under the brand names of Plasti-Fab EPS product solutions; Insulspan structural insulating panel systems (SIPS); Advantage ICF systems; Riverbend Timber Framing; and Precision Craft log and timber homes. Its Plasti-Fab EPS product solutions comprise rigid foam for insulating roofs, floors and walls; floatation and buoyancy products; geotechnical engineered applications; packaging and display; and building systems. The company�s Insulspan structural insulating panel system products are used in various residential and commercial building envelope applications, including roofs, walls, and floors; and Insulspan structural insulating panel blanks are used as raw materials in the products of original equipment manufacturers. Its Advantage ICF system is a one-piece, stay-in-place, and insulating concrete form made of EPS insulation for use in residential construction market, as well as in commercial applications, such as hotels, warehouses, restaurants, and office buildings; Riverbend Timber Framing provides timber frame structures for public and commercial projects, such as pavilions, churches, lodges, and restaurants; and PrecisionCraft log and timber frame homes that include handcrafted logs, timber frames, hybrid log and timber, post and beam, and milled logs. PFB Corporation sells its products through sales representatives, independent sales agents, and registered dealers and distributors to industrial, commercial, and residential customers; and to the retail market. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: Rochester Medical Corporation(ROCM)

Rochester Medical Corporation engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of PVC-free and latex-free urinary continence and urine drainage care products for the home and acute care markets. Its home care products include a line of silicone and latex male external catheters for managing male urinary incontinence; intermittent catheters for managing both male and female urinary retention, including Magic 3 line of silicone intermittent catheters; and the FemSoft Insert, a soft, liquid-filled, urethral insert for managing stress urinary incontinence in adult females. The company manufactures male external catheters in six models, including UltraFlex, Pop-On, Wide Band, Natural, Clear Advantage, and Transfix catheters; and intermittent catheters in four versions that include standard, antibacterial, hydrophilic, and antibacterial personal catheters. Its acute care products include a line of standard Foley catheters and Strata brand of Foley catheters; and Strata-NF Catheter, an antibacterial Foley catheter that reduces the incidence of hospital acquired urinary tract infection. The company?s primary customers include distributors, extended care facilities, and individual hospitals and healthcare institutions. It markets its products under the Rochester Medical brand name through a direct sales force in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, as well as through independent distributors in other international markets. The company also supplies its products to various medical product companies for sale under private label brands owned by these companies. Rochester Medical Corporation was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Stewartville, Minnesota.

Top Industrial Disributor Stocks To Buy Right Now: Porvair PLC(PRV.L)

Porvair plc develops, designs, and manufactures filtration and separation equipment. It operates in two segments, Microfiltration and Metals Filtration. The Microfiltration segment designs and manufactures a range of filtration equipment for aerospace, energy, bioscience, water, chemical process, power generation, pharmaceutical, environment, and food and beverage industries. This segment also involves in engineering machining business, as well as provides laboratory based water analysis equipment. In addition, it offers laboratory microplates to life sciences, biotechnology, research and development, and molecular biology industries through a distributor network. Further, this segment develops automated wet chemistry discrete and continuous flow analyzers for use in environmental and industrial laboratories. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. The Metals Filtration segment designs and manufactures porous ceramic filters for the filtrat ion of molten metals. This segment offers products for the manufacture of turbine blades, solar panel manufacture, and energy storage. It serves molten aluminum, iron foundry, steel foundry, and investment casting industries. This segment has operations in the U.S. and China. The company also serves customers in South America, Australasia, and Africa. Porvair plc is based in King?s Lynn, the United Kingdom.

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: Uranium Energy Corp. (UEC)

Uranium Energy Corp. engages in the exploration, development, extraction, and processing of uranium concentrates on projects located in the United States and Paraguay. As of July 31, 2012, it had mineral rights in uranium mining projects located in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming, as well as in Paraguay. The company was formerly known as Carlin Gold Inc. and changed its name to Uranium Energy Corp. in January 2005. Uranium Energy Corp. was incorporated in 2003 and is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: Timberland Bancorp Inc.(TSBK)

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Timberland Bank that provides various banking services in Washington. The company offers various deposit products, including money market deposit accounts, checking accounts, regular savings accounts, and certificates of deposit. It also provides mortgage loans comprising one-to-four family residential, multi-family real estate, commercial real estate, land, and construction loans. In addition, the company offers non-mortgage loans, such as commercial business loans; and consumer loans consisting of home equity lines of credit, second mortgage, savings account, automobile, boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, and unsecured loans. It serves businesses and individuals primarily in Grays Harbor, Pierce, Thurston, Kitsap, King, and Lewis counties of Washington. As of September 30, 2011, the company operated 22 branches and 23 ATMs. Timberland Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is based in Hoquiam, Washingt on.

Top Railroad Companies To Invest In Right Now: KongZhong Corporation(KONG)

KongZhong Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireless interactive entertainment, media, and community services to mobile phone users in the People's Republic of China. It also involves in the development, distribution, and marketing of consumer wireless value-added services, including wireless application protocol, multimedia messaging services, short messaging services, interactive voice response services, and color ring back tones. In addition, it offers interactive entertainment services, such as mobile games, pictures, karaoke, electronic books, mobile phone personalization features, entertainment news, chat, and message boards; and through Kong.net offer news, community services, games, and other interactive media and entertainment services; and sells advertising space in the form of text-link, banner, and button advertisements. Further, the company develops and publishes mobile games, including downloadable mobile games and online mobile games cons isting of action, role-playing, and leisure games. As of December 31, 2009, it had a library of approximately 300 internally developed mobile games. Additionally, it develops online games; and provides consulting and technology services, as well as media and net book services. The company was formerly known as Communication Over The Air Inc. and changed its name to KongZhong Corporation in March 2004. KongZhong Corporation was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Louis Navellier]

  Thanks largely to the country’s tremendous economic growth, there’s a new middle class in China. They have more leisure time than ever before, and that means big opportunity for entertainment provider KongZhong Corporation (KONG).

  The company provides wireless interactive entertainment, media and community services to mobile phone users, but it also offers interactive entertainment services, including mobile games, pictures, logos, karaoke, electronic books and mobile phone personalization features such as ring tones. The Chinese love their cell phones, and KongZhong provides much of the content that goes on those phones.

  Investors certainly haven’t been hesitant to dial up shares of KONG, as the stock is up over 218% in the last 12 months.

  I rate KONG an A, making it a strong buy.