Stocks Hitting 52-Week Highs

Top 5 Energy Companies For 2014

Gogo (NASDAQ: GOGO) shares gained 9.19% to touch a new 52-week high of $30.90 on Jim Cramer/Mad Money mention.

Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) shares rose 2.75% to reach a new 52-week high of $74.43 after the company's board declared a cash dividend of $0.30 per share for the quarter ending Dec. 27, 2013.

Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) shares touched a new 52-week high of $37.54 after the company posted a profit in the fourth quarter and lifted its dividend.

Snap-on (NYSE: SNA) shares gained 0.60% to create a new 52-week high of $106.62. Snap-on's PEG ratio is 1.78.

Posted-In: 52-Week HighsNews Intraday Update Markets Movers

(c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Top Trends: Income and ETFs

Money manager and income specialist Dave Fabian discusses four important current trends that income-oriented ETF investors need to consider; he also highlights the top funds to take advantage of these opportunities.

Steve Halpern: We're here with Dave Fabian. How are you doing Dave?

Dave Fabian: I'm doing very well, Steve, thanks so much for having me back.

Steve Halpern: Since the last time we spoke, you changed the name of your money management company from Fabian Capital to FMD Capital. Could you update us on the change?

Dave Fabian: Absolutely, we're actually really excited about it. The name change really came about because we're expanding our brand more on a national stage.

We're starting to do quite a bit more institutional research and the like, and we thought it would be better for a lot of our followers and clients to have a little bit of a different name change out there in the marketplace, and of course, along with that we also introduced a new portfolio that we're really excited about for our money management clients.

I focus exclusively on high-yield closed-in funds that's picking up a lot of interest as well. We're really excited about the changes, and at the end of 2013 and 2014 are going to be some really exciting times for both equity and income investors.

Steve Halpern: Congratulations.

Dave Fabian: Thank you so much.

Steve Halpern: You note that you don't subscribe to the theory that all bonds are bad, even in the face of rising interest rates. In fact, you suggest there are always opportunities out there for income investors. Could you expand on that?

Dave Fabian: Absolutely. Well, 2013, you know, has really seen probably the most volatility in the interest rate space since the mid-90s. Really, we've seen a huge spike in interest rates from a low in the 10-year of about 1.65% to over 3% in a period of about four or five months.

Since, though September, the Federal Reserve came out and said that they are not going to taper their asset purchase programs, and so, we saw a big fall in interest rates, which, of course, translates into a rise in bond prices. Really, now what we're seeing is some additional interest starting to come back into the bond market.

There were huge outflows in the early part of the month, of course, funds like PIMCO, and the like, garnered all of these headlines about how they are losing billions of dollars in assets, but really what we're starting to see is money come back into certain areas of the bond market, and there's some really excellent opportunities out there for income investors.

Of course, we don't subscribe to the theory that all bonds are bad, even in the face of some of these rising interest rates, there have been some areas of the bond market that have performed extremely well, so it's really about positioning your portfolio into the areas that are doing well, and letting go of some of the losers and the like.

Steve Halpern: In your latest research report, you outline four high-yield ETF trends that investors need to focus on today, so let's go through them. First, you look at short duration, high-yield bonds, and in particular, you recommend them because of low volatility. Can you tell us a little about that?

Dave Fabian: Absolutely. High-yield has been excellent space for income investors over the last several years. They've put up fantastic returns.

High-yield bonds have had very low default rate, they're a great income stream and of course, what we've been recommending over the last several years is for people to start transitioning their portfolios, specifically in high-yield, from longer duration to shorter duration.

The shorter average duration in an ETF or a mutual fund means that you're going to have less sensitivity to interest rates.

Hot Insurance Stocks To Watch Right Now

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Should I Buy TJX Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons

Popular Posts: VJET Stock Malfunctions – Are 3D Printing Stocks Going to Crash?3D Printing Stocks – VJET Keeps Crushing ItShould I Buy Boeing Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons Recent Posts: Should I Buy TJX Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons Should I Buy LNKD Stock? 3 Pros, 3 Cons SPLK – Big Data, Big Sales and a Big Move for Splunk Stock View All Posts

Many retailers are looking dicey heading into the 2013 holiday shopping season, but discounter TJX Companies (TJX) has been upbeat. Investors have taken notice, bidding up TJX stock by roughly 7% in the past month to contribute to a sizzling 50% year-to-date return.

Analysts have taken notice, too, and have upped their estimates on TJX stock. For instance, Sterne Agee’s Ike Boruchow increased his 2013 earnings forecast to by 4 cents to $2.88 and also raised his 2014 forecast by 10 cents to $3.32.

Best Small Cap Companies To Watch For 2014

However, there might be a little reason for caution — TJX did not raise its outlook during its latest earnings report.

So, should you buy TJX stock regardless, or has the red light just come on? To see, we look at the pros and cons of TJX:

TJX Pros

Global Platform: TJX is a leading off-price apparel and home fashions retailer that sports more than 3,000 locations across four major divisions:

Marmaxx: These include T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains in the U.S. Each has different merchandise mixes, such as in terms of jewelry, accessories and footwear. Homegoods: Launched over 20 years ago, this is a chain that sells home basics, furniture, lamps, rugs and wall décor. TJX Canada: This includes Marshalls, HomeSense and Winners brands across Canada. TJX Europe: TJX operates T.K. Maxx and HomeSense in the U.K., Ireland, Germany and Poland.

Together, these divisions generally aim to offer discounts between 20% and 60% — a huge draw for increasingly squeezed consumers.

Business Model: For more than three decades, TJX has built a solid infrastructure that includes a buying organization of 900-plus people operating out of 13 offices in 10 countries. Since 2008, TJX has increased the network of global vendors from 10,000 to 16,000, and as a result, TJX is able to quickly react to consumer tastes, trends and even macro changes and weather events. Of course, TJX also has focused on getting more efficiencies, introducing lean approaches to its supply chain and strategies to reduce inventory turns. TJX now operates 20 distribution centers in five countries.

Growth: In the latest quarter, consolidated comparable store sales increased 5% year-over-year, on top of 2012′s 7% increase. The drivers included a combination of increased ticket and traffic volume. Also, growth has been strong across all segments and countries — even Europe has been robust, and enjoyed 5% comps growth in Q3. Finally, TJX has gotten into the online game, launching its e-commerce site in September.

TJX Cons

Competition: While TJX attempts to undercut more traditional retailers, it has plenty of competition in the deep-discount game, Ross Stores (ROST), Kohl’s (KSS) and Burlington Stores (BURL). TJX also must contend with big-box operators like Target (TGT). So far, TJX has been able to dig itself a niche and remain fairly differentiated, but it’s fair to point out the danger in slipping — in retail, customers always have plenty of alternatives.

Consumer Tastes: Again, TJX has done a pretty good job with merchandising, but a retailer can easily go into a slump. In some cases, the results can be devastating, as seen with JCPenney (JCP). For TJX, it also has the challenge of making sure it gets the right merchandise for a global operation, which means it’s vulnerable to misfires.

Valuation: TJX isn’t necessarily overvalued. But then again, investors certainly are not getting a discount. TJX stock currently trades at 21 times earnings, and you’re not even getting much of a dividend to lean on, either, at a yield of less than 1%. On a relative basis, there definitely are better values out there, such as Target, which is trading at 15 times earnings and yields 2.6%.

Verdict

TJX has been able to thrive regardless of the macroeconomic environment. Then again, who doesn't want big discounts on branded goods?

Over the years, TJX has built a powerful infrastructure spanning various strong brands. More importantly, if TJX is to believed, there’s plenty of growth potential — TJX thinks it can reach more than $40 billion in revenues, which would be a big leap from 2012′s roughly $26 billion.

So should you buy TJX stock? Yes — this retailer has a winning formula that will be tough to beat.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPO Playbook. He is also the author of High-Profit IPO Strategies, All About Commodities and All About Short Selling. Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Young readers’ news appetite not growing

Today's younger and middle-aged audience isn't as interested in consuming daily news as older people and exhibits little evidence that its interest levels would rise with age, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

In 2012, Gen-Xers -- those ages 33 to 47 -- watched, read or listen to 66 minutes of news, on average, the day before they were queried by Pew, relatively unchanged from eight years ago. The survey is conducted every two years, and Gen-Xers said in 2004 that they consumed 63 minutes of news per day.

Millennials -- ages 18 to 31 -- reported 46 minutes of news last year vs. 43 in 2004.

"News organizations have been confronting the problem of a shrinking audience for more than a decade, but trends strongly suggest that these difficulties may only worsen over time," wrote Andrew Kohut, founding director of the Pew Research Center in its survey results released Friday.

That older readers are more interested in news is hardly surprising. But the results undermine the news industry's general assumption that consumers' appetite for news grows as they start families, buy homes and enroll their children in local schools.

More distractions - streaming video, cable TV, tablets and other forms of digital media - are partly to blame, Kohut said. And "the older generations grew up during the Cold War and World War II, when people were more engaged with what's going on in the world," he said. "We saw a spike in interest in foreign news after 9-11 but it was short lived."

In 2012, members of the Silent generation, ages 67 to 84, spent 84 minutes a day consuming the news, according to the survey. Boomers, ages 48 to 66, averaged 77 minutes.

Less than half of Xers and Millennials -- 45% and 29%, respectively -- said they enjoy following the news. But 58% of Silents and Boomers said they do. "This generational difference has been consistently apparent in the surveys over the years," Kohut said. "Older people simply enjoy the news more than the young do."

Other findings:

* Not surprisingly, the Internet as a news source jumped dramatically in the 8-year period between 2004 and 2012. The percentage of Xers who said they consumed news on the Internet the day before the survey query jumped to 49% from 29% in 2004, roughly equaling the 2012 total for TV news audience (52%).

* Xers who read a newspaper fell to 21% vs. 30% in 2002. Only 14% of Millennials read newspapers, down from 20% in 2002.

* Radio was more popular than newspapers among the younger audience, with 38% of Xers saying they listened to news from radio the day before the survey. And 27% of Millennials said the same. Both measures are little changed since the middle of the last decade, the survey said.

Jury orders Samsung to pay Apple another $290 million

Samsung's smartphones (right) were found to have infringed on Apple's patents for the iPhone in a ruling last August.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) A California jury has ordered Samsung to pay Apple $290 million dollars more for infringing on its patents.

Thursday's ruling is the latest judgment in a serpentine case that has been ongoing for more than two years. In August 2012, the Korean smartphone maker was found to have violated several of Apple's patents, and a jury ruled that Samsung owed Apple more than $1 billion in damages. U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh later said the jury had miscalculated the award, and about $450 million worth of those damages were reconsidered in a new trial.

Top Cheap Stocks To Buy For 2014

After Thursday's ruling, Samsung now owes Apple another $290 million in damages on top of the $640 million in damages that Judge Koh upheld in the original damages trial.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) argued it deserved another $379 million, while Samsung said it owed only about $52 million.

The damages total is now $935 million -- close to the original $1.05 billion figure.

But to further complicate the issue, both companies have appealed the original August 2012 ruling ... so Thursday's decision could mean little or nothing.

Apple and Samsung are embroiled in dozens of patent disputes in courts around the world, but Thursday's ruling involves the biggest case. Apple accused Samsung of "slavishly" copying both the iPhone and iPad for its own devices, including the hardware design as well as software features like double-tap zooming. Samsung countersued, accusing Apple of infringing on its own software patents.

It could take years for the lawsuits to be resolved. And so it goes in the litigious world of smartphone patents.

Nasdaq Leads the Five Major Averages

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- In May the major equity averages appeared to have peaked in the May 20/May 22 time frame. The problem then was that all five of the major equity averages were not in sync to confirm those highs. My conclusion was if you can't confirm the highs then new highs will follow.

Today we are in a similar situation with the Nasdaq setting new multi-year highs, while the other four remain shy of their August highs; 15,658.43 for the Dow Industrial Average set on Aug. 2, 1709.67 for the S&P 500 set on Aug. 2, 6686.86 Dow transportation average set on Aug. 1, and 1063.52 Russell 2000 set on Aug. 5.

The Nasdaq has the power to pull the other averages higher given a weekly close above my semiannual and monthly risky levels at 3759 and 3772 vs. Thursday's new multi-year high at 3731.84.

Fundamentally the stock market has been trading under a ValuEngine valuation warning at least since the May highs. Today we show that 76.7% of all stocks are overvalued 42.8% by 20% or more. Fifteen of 16 sectors are overvalued, 13 by double-digit percentages, of which 10 are overvalued by 20.7% to 32.4%. Sector price-to-earnings ratios have become elevated between readings of 17.4 to 31.0. This week I covered the housing market and banking system using data from the FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter. The PHLX Housing Sector Index (177.62) peaked at 210.01 on May 20 and strength this week failed below the 200-day simple moving average at 183.01. The housing index is up just 3.7% year to date and is 15.4% off its May high. The America's Community Bankers Index (209.29) peaked at 220.73 on July 24 and this index remains well below its 50-day simple moving average at 213.61. The community banking index is up a solid 22.6% year to date beating the 18% rise in the S&P 500, but since July 24 is down 5.2%, underperforming the S&P. The PHLX KN Banking Index (63.57) peaked at 67.11 on August 1 and this index also remains well below its 50-day simple moving average at 64.67. The regional banking index is up 24.0% year to date, but is down 5.3% since August 1.

Like I said in February 2007 when the banking index set its all-time high, 'you can't have a bull market in stocks with a bear market in financials'. The regional banking index includes the four 'too big to fail' banks and this week we learned that all four are significantly cutting back on the mortgage origination businesses, which is not good news for the housing market.

Later this month three stocks will vacate the Dow Industrial Average with three new members coming on board. Here are my buy-and-trade parameters for these stocks.

Alcoa (AA) ($8.16) is trading between its 50-day SMA at $8.01 and its 200-day SMA at $8.41. This hold rated stock leaves the Dow with fair value at $8.74 and a one-year price target at $7.81. My monthly value level is $7.78 with a semiannual risky level at $11.33.

Bank of America (BAC) ($14.48) is trading above its 50-day SMA at $14.33. This hold rated stock leaves the Dow with fair value at $13.23 and a one-year price target at $14.94. My semiannual value level is $10.09 with a monthly pivot at $14.26 and annual risky level at $17.07. Hewlett Packard (HPQ) ($21.96) is trading between its 200-day SMA at $20.93 and its 50-day SMA at $24.99. This buy rated stock leaves the Dow with fair value at $24.00 and one-year price target at $24.11. I do not have a value level with a semiannual risky level at $24.24. Goldman Sachs (GS) ($163.35) is above its 50-day SMA at $160.52. This hold rated stock enters the Dow with fair value at $129.82 and a one-year price target at $166.10. My semiannual value level is $123.16 with a monthly risky level at $177.43 and annual risky level at $186.86. Nike (NKE) ($68.08) traded to a new multi-year high at $68.90 on Thursday. This hold rated stock enters the Dow with fair value at $53.16 and a one-year price target at $68.72. I do not show value levels with a quarterly pivot at $68.02 and monthly risky level at $69.52. Visa (V) ($185.06) traded up to $187.81 on Thursday staying above the 50-day SMA at $182.84. The hold rated stock enters the Dow with fair value at $154.78 and a one-year price target at $185.89. My semiannual value level is $172.20 with monthly and quarterly pivots at $191.00 and $193.54.

At the time of publication the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.

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Follow @Suttmeier

This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Richard Suttmeier has an engineering degree from Georgia Tech and a master of science from Brooklyn Poly. He began his career in the financial services industry in 1972 trading U.S. Treasury securities in the primary dealer community. In 1981 he formed the Government Bond Department at LF Rothschild and helped establish that firm as a primary dealer in 1986. Richard began writing market research in 1984 and held positions as market strategist at firms such as Smith Barney, William R Hough, Joseph Stevens, and Rightside Advisors. He joined www.ValuEngine.com in 2008 producing newsletters covering the U.S. capital markets, and a universe of more than 7,000 stocks. Richard employs a "buy and trade" investment strategy and can be reached at RSuttmeier@Gmail.com.

 Insuring Against the Unexpected Upside Move

Well, Big Bad Ben certainly creamed the shorts yesterday with his completely unexpected statement that massive bond buying will not "taper" but will continue full speed ahead.

That gives me an opportunity about discussing another insurance use of options. We all know that puts are useful for insuring against a downside move. Calls are useful for insuring against an unexpected upside blowout like we saw yesterday. Also, calls can allow a stock investor to take profits and still say in the game.

 And, no, I don't mean using call options as a hedge against a short stock or futures position. That sort of thing is best left to professional traders. What I mean is as follows: Let's say that you have a varied portfolio of stocks and while you are very happy with the Great Rally of 2013 you are getting a little nervous about this lofty altitude and would not like to be caught when the euphoria ends.

So, you'd like to ring the cash register and lock in some profits, yet are afraid you'll sell too early (having said that, when Andrew Carnegie was asked how he made a fortune in the stock market he replied "I always sold too soon") and you would hate yourself if you got out and the market continued to roar higher.

You can liquidate all or most of your stocks and reinvest 10% of your profits in out of the money (OTM) index call options.

For example, let's say you own a broad based range of stocks and are well up, say 25% or more. You can sell your stocks, and take 10% of that profit and buy a four month out OTM SPY (S&P 500 ETF) call . At this writing with SPY at 173.50, you can buy the January 178 call  for 2.50. 178 is only 2.5% higher than we are now. If you sell your stocks you'll only miss the next 2.5% move higher before your call kicks in and starts making you money.

And, if you have, in fact, sold at or near the top then your small investment against a continued move higher was money well spent.

Either way, call options are not just a speculative tool to trade an expected move higher (although they can be), they also share the insurance properties of put options.

Another tribute to the great versatility of exchange traded options.

 

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The following article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.

Don't Overreact to Cameron's Downgrade

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It came as no surprise to learn that shares of oilfield services company Cameron International (CAM) was downgraded by analysts at UBS following the company's third-quarter earnings miss. What did surprise, however, was that the stock fell 15% in what I can only describe as an overreaction. While other agencies will likely follow UBS' pessimism, I believe Cameron now presents an opportunity for investors looking for exposure in the energy sector.

First, we have to realize that unlike other sectors, Cameron's revenue and gross margins are not the driving forces of this stock, which is the same case for rivals such as National Oilwell Varco (NOV) and Weatherford International (WFT). Yet, some of these points are cited as reasons for the near-term bearishness. What's really important to Cameron, and for that matter this entire sector, are the volume of orders received. I won't disagree that it's an "unpredictable" metric. Still, in that regard, Cameron is outperforming expectations.

Third quarter orders were up 32% year-over-year to more than $3 billion, helped (in part) by better-than-expected demand in OneSubsea, a joint venture formed by Cameron and Schlumberger (SLB) which they own 60/40, respectively. Not only did OneSubsea generate more than $1 billion this quarter in orders, but it also means that Cameron's backlog, which now stands at more than $11 billion, jumped almost 50% from last year.

It doesn't escape me that these doubts being spewed about Cameron today are coming from some of the same people that had reservations about the OneSubsea's prospects. They essentially said that this joint venture, which closed in June, wouldn't work. But in actuality, it's starting to pay huge dividends for both companies, given that their combined capabilities in deepwater innovation and integration platform. What's more, I don't believe Cameron's downgrade was justified from an operational perspective. While I did point out earlier that revenue performances are secondary to orders results, it's not as if Cameron stunk it up in that area. Total revenues were up 13% year-over-year to $2.5 billion. This is another area where OneSubsea is creating value as Cameron was able to sell 85 subsea pumping units.

The problem has been the margins. Management talked about the strong demand for things like jack-up and floaters and a strong performance in the aftermarket business. But it's costing more money than management would like to spend to actually deliver these items. I believe this is one of those cases where investors have to be willing take the good with the bad, while trusting that management can bring more efficiency to the operation. The UBS analyst is not as optimistic in the short term.

That said, while management didn't explicitly say that investors should expect meaningful improvements in fourth-quarter profits, they didn't sound very optimistic, either. And that can mean one of two things. First, they may be low-balling expectations just a bit so they can come out as heroes when they beat them. Or they can actually be telling the truth.

In either case, given the strong order performance, not to mention the significant backlog, these shares, which have posted gains of only 5% in the trailing 12 months, are still cheap. Plus, it's worth noting that although management's tone in the conference call wasn't overwhelmingly positive regarding the fourth quarter, they did cite that the increase in costs were due to plant delays with capacity expansions.

What this means is that there are initiatives in place to shore up margins, but perhaps not right away. And I believe patient investors, especially those that have bought on this overreaction, will do very well here. On the strength on OneSubsea and solid backlog, Cameron stock should command a fair market value north of $70 per share in the next 12 to 18 months. At the time of publication, the author held no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Follow @saintssense This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Market Turns Losses Into Record Highs Ahead of Yellen Grillin’

Like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky–or the plot of just any underdog film you can think of–the market started the day beaten down on its way to claiming the crown.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

The S&P 500 gained 0.8% to 1,782, after falling as much as 0.4% this morning, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to 15,821.63. Both were record highs, the S&P 500′s 34th this year, the Dow’s 36th.

The market was given a boost by Macy’s (M), which rose 9.4% to $50.68 after reporting stellar earnings, Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD), which gained 6.9% after it  announced that two of its oil wells had started chugging out crude, and General Motors (GM), which gained 4.9% to $38.44 after it announced that it would move its international headquarters to Singapore from Shanghai. PVH (PVH) and Cliff’s Natural Resources (CLF) both gained more than 4%.

Miller Tabak’s Andrew Wilkinson calls the market’s turnaround “pretty impressive.” He writes:

The index has rebounded to 1776.35 from an earlier low at 1760.64 and has engulfed Tuesday's range by piercing its low en route before surpassing its high…[With] the percentage of S&P 500 stocks trading new 52-week highs…at 6%, one could argue that the move is lacking fresh impetus, on the other it could signal that stocks not having made new peaks lately are behind the latest advance. At the time of the May and September record heights for stocks, the percentage of stocks rising to 52-week peaks was 31% and 26% respectively. At the end of October they reached 16%.

While there was little news to explain either this morning’s weakness or the afternoon’s move higher, that won’t be the case tomorrow. We’ll get jobless claims data. We’ll get the U.S. trade balance. And we’ll get Janet Yellen, whose opening remarks were released after the close, being grilled by the Senate on her way to replacing Ben Bernanke as head of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Jefferies’ Ward McCarthy offers his thoughts on what to expect:

Our expectation is that she will be very dovish regarding the "optimal" monetary policy for the current economic doldrums, but we also expect that she will not fit the media typecast of being a "serial dove." Yes, she will strongly defend the current highly accommodative monetary policy as being necessary and effective, and she will also defend the Fed actions that have taken monetary policy to the current state.

She will also be noncommittal if she is pushed to identify the timing of the initial tapering and the appropriate timing for the first firming of rate policy. The easy answer to those questions is to simply note that these decisions are up to the FOMC and the next Chairman, who has yet to be determined. Were these questions to be put to her as hypotheticals, it would increase the probability that we might learn quite a bit about Yellen's commitment to maintaining QE and extended rate guidance.

Still, the market is becoming convinced that tapering will begin soon. Consensus appears to be March; some believe it could be as soon as December. Treasury yields, for one, rose today, and Capital Economics’ John Higgins worries about the impact of rising bond yields on the stock market. He writes:

The earnings yield of a stock market index should be closely related to the average real yield of long-dated bonds issued by its constituents. In the US, we think the latter is likely to rise significantly during our forecast window. Although the gap between the earnings yield and the average real bond yield is currently more positive than usual, upward pressure on the latter is set to undermine the valuation case for equities over the next few years.

But what’s the next four years when we have so much to look forward to tomorrow?

Ex-N.M. governor vows to halt horse slaughters

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson vowed Saturday to fight a federal ruling that will allow U.S. horse slaughterhouses to operate for the first time since 2007.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Christina Armijo tossed a lawsuit by the Humane Society and animal protection groups seeking to block horse slaughter, contending that federal officials had failed to assess the environmental impacts of slaughterhouses. Her ruling could allow Roswell, N.M.-based Valley Meat, Responsible Transportation of Sigourney, Iowa, and Rains Natural Meats of Gallatin, Mo., to slaughter horses and ship meat to countries where it's consumed by humans or used as animal feed.

Currently, most domestic horses destined for slaughter are shipped to Canadian and Mexico processing plants.

The hot-button issue has split animal rights activists, ranchers and Indian tribes for years. Richardson and actor Robert Redford have been the animal rights groups' most visible supporters, saying the slaughter of an iconic animal is cruel and inhumane.

Earlier this year, Richardson and Redford — unavailable for comment Saturday — launched the Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife, eventually gathering support from the Navajo Nation, which had previously rounded up thousands of feral horses it said were causing ecological and property damage.

"Our next course of action is to file an appeal, a full rush with Congress to see if we can pass a prohibition, and to concentrate on more state by state efforts to stop this," Richardson told USA TODAY. "The odds are not that good about stopping this, but it's not over."

It's estimated that 75,000 feral and wild horses roam the U.S., most in the West and Southwest.

In 2007, the last year U.S. slaughterhouses processed horsemeat, 30,000 horses were killed for human consumption, another 78,000 were shipped for processing in Mexico and Canada.

Valley Meat Co. President Rick De Los Santos could not be reached Saturday. But New Mexico Attorney Ge! neral Gary King has said he may try to block the company's horse slaughter efforts because drugs used to treat horses make their meat unfit for human consumption and cannot be processed or sold in the state, regardless of where its ultimately shipped or consumed.

Blair Dunn, who represents Valley Meat and Rains Natural Meats, said he would fight any further attempts to keep the plants closed. He said he had calls into the Department of Justice, which represents the Department of Agriculture, to get inspectors dispatched to the plants.

"Rains Natural Meat in Missouri will be ready to go on Monday," he said.

Follow Strauss on Twitter @gbstrauss

Contributing: The Associated Press

Japan Starts Up Offshore Wind Farm Near Fukushima

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AP ONAHAMA PORT, Japan -- Japan switched on the first turbine at a wind farm 12 miles off the coast of Fukushima on Monday, feeding electricity to the grid tethered to the tsunami-crippled nuclear plant onshore. The wind farm near the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant is to eventually have a generation capacity of 1 gigawatt from 143 turbines, though its significance is not limited to the energy it will produce. Symbolically, the turbines will help restore the role of energy supplier to a region decimated by a population exodus following the multiple meltdowns triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. "Many people were victimized and hurt by the accident at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, so it is very meaningful to have a new source of energy -- renewable energy -- based here," said Kazuyoshi Akaba, a vice minister of economy, trade and industry, after the turbine was turned on. "It is the government's mission to ensure this project is a success," he said. The project also highlights Japan's aspirations to sell its advanced energy technology around the globe. Trading houses such as Marubeni Corp., which is leading the consortium building the offshore wind farm, are investing aggressively in renewable energy as well as conventional sources, helped by government policies aimed at nurturing favored industries. All of Japan's 50 viable nuclear reactors are offline for safety checks under new regulatory guidelines drawn up after the Fukushima disaster. Utility companies have applied to restart at least 14 reactors under those new guidelines, which include more stringent requirements for earthquake and tsunami protections, among other precautions. In Japan, the push to tap more renewable sources to help offset lost power capacity, and reduce costs for imported natural gas and oil, also got a boost last year with the implementation of a higher wholesale tariff for energy generated from non-conventional sources. Japan, whose coast is mostly ringed by deep waters, is pioneering floating wind turbine construction, required for seabed depths greater than 165 feet. The 2 megawatt downwind floating turbine that began operation Monday was built at a dry dock near Tokyo and towed to its location off the northeastern coast. Six huge chains anchor it to the seabed almost 400 feet below. The turbine is linked to a 66 kilovolt floating power substation, the world's first according to the project operators, via an extra-high voltage undersea cable. As the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. struggle to clean up from the nuclear disaster and begin the decades-long task of decommissioning Fukushima Dai-Ichi, Japan's energy industry is in the midst of a transition whose outcome remains uncertain. Most leading members of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the powerful business lobbies such as Keidanren, and many experts, argue that wind and other renewables alone simply cannot make up for the steady and huge baseload power produced by nuclear plants. "I favor renewables. But it would be irresponsible to create a pie-in-the-sky claim that renewables alone are the answer," said Paul Scalise, a fellow at Tokyo University and expert on Japan's energy industry. "There is no such thing as a perfect power source." He cites figures showing wind power's average generating capacity at 2 watts per square meter versus 20 watts per square meter for solar power - and 1,000 watts per square meter for nuclear. Eventually there could be dozens of wind turbines off Fukushima's scenic but deserted coast. The project is meant to demonstrate the feasibility of locating these towering turbines in offshore regions where the winds are more reliable and there are fewer "not in my backyard" concerns. Bigger turbines that might create noise problems onshore are not an issue so far offshore. Yuhei Sato, the governor of Fukushima Prefecture who has lobbied hard for support following the 2011 disasters, said he expected local businesses to benefit from the wind farm. A research center is planned for Koriyama, a city further inland, and studies are underway on the impact of local fisheries from the floating turbines. "We are moving ahead one step at a time. This wind farm is a symbol of our future," Sato said. In theory, Japan has the potential for 1,600 gigawatts of wind power, most of it offshore. About a dozen projects are already in the works, from Kyushu in the south to Hokkaido in the north. But wind power can be notoriously unstable: when the switch was pushed to "on" on Monday, the audience of VIP officials watched tensely as the wind turbine's blades, displayed on a video screen at a tourist center onshore, appeared becalmed. Eventually, though, the blades slowly began rotating. We hope you never need this information, but it will be invaluable if you ever get that knock on your door that it's time to evacuate or you find yourself dealing with the aftermath of a disaster, natural or otherwise.Click through our gallery as personal finance experts Ken & Daria Dolan walk you through creating an "Emergency Packet" -- 10 critical documents you must have ready before disaster strikes.

Stocks near highs face Yellen, Cisco, shaky sentiment

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — As concerns over an overheated stock market run high, investor attention this week will shift to the economy, the next Fed chief, and the outlook from tech bellwether Cisco Systems Inc.

The week's data releases are likely to be muddied by the government's October shutdown, making it even harder to figure out whether the economic recovery is solid enough for the Federal Reserve to back off its stimulus. Some earnings reports—notably Cisco (CSCO) , Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) , and a few other retailers—may help fill in the blanks.

Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)  finished up 0.9%, the S&P 500 Index (SPX)  gained 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP)  shed less than 0.1%.

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Long-term care insurance has gotten a bad rap. Plus, how fast is your online broker? Senior editor Jack Hough previews the latest issue of Barron's Magazine. Photo: Getty Images.

Stocks finished higher on the day Friday , including a record close for the Dow, after a report that the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected. Economic forecasters, however, are torn about the reliability of the October jobs report. Atlanta Fed President Lockhart said on Friday that some data will be less reliable through the end of the year.

Even so, earlier in the week, San Francisco Fed President John Williams told reporters that consumer confidence data will be a big factor going forward in the decision on when to start tapering some $85 billion a month in asset purchases. On Friday, consumer sentiment data hit its lowest level since 2011.

In the meantime, some investors are reacting to perceived signs of a frothy market. Outflows hit U.S. equity funds as stocks traded near record highs.

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"The market's due for a rest and that's what we're seeing," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners. Nolte said he still expects a 3% to 5% pullback from recent highs.

Societe Generale is taking an even gloomier view. It's predicted a 15% correction for U.S. stocks, citing rising bond yields.

Currently, the Dow industrials and S&P 500 are 0.3% off their all-time highs, and the Nasdaq is off 1.2% from its latest 13-year high.

Third-quarter productivity and October capacity utilization data will be of particular interest to Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners.

"Hopefully those numbers show a little growth, if manufacturing is keeping pace," Pavlik said.

Thursday also brings the Senate confirmation hearing of Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve. Yellen is expected to continue the dovish Fed policies of current chairman Ben Bernanke. Treasury yields, which spiked at the end of the week, are particularly vulnerable to any signs she'll want to curtail the Fed's bond purchase program as soon as this year.

Most financial markets are open Monday, Veterans Day, though there are no government data releases.

Enlarge Image Janet Yellen takes the podium after being nominated to succeed Ben Bernanke as the new Fed chair.

Schwab’s Clark Vows to Take On Washington at Impact 2013

“A big part of the conference is about advocacy,” said Bernie Clark, referring to Schwab Advisor Services’ annual Impact gathering in Washington starting Sunday.

With advisor attendee registrations approaching 1,800 (with 31% of attendees being first timers) as of a preconference interview on Oct. 29, Clark, head of Schwab Advisor Services, said that holding Impact in Washington “gives us the opportunity to influence” regulators and legislators.

Specifically, that means that Schwab will be “taking small groups of advisors” to meet with members of the House Financial Services committee, while Clark and Schwab’s legal counsel will take advantage of the venue to meet with the SEC to discuss the commission’s fiduciary rulemaking process and the harmonization of RIA and broker-dealer regulation. Clark pointed out that Schwab’s advocacy efforts were not a do-it-alone strategy, saying that in June it had approached regulators with the Investment Adviser Association (IAA) “and our competitors.”

In addition to welcoming RIAs who already work with Schwab, Clark said Impact would also see the “largest number of prospects ever” attending the show, as advisors contemplating a move toward becoming an RIA and affiliating with Schwab “are being more transparent” than ever.

Impact, he said, is a “gathering of the overall community” and since “advisors are more generous about sharing best practices than any other business” with their peers, the high number of attendees reflects the fact that “successful people like to be around other successful people.”

The RIA community has moved toward an “ecosystem,” as Clark likes to say, that gathers other firms around it with growth as a shared goal. As that community has matured, it’s now become part of a continuum which is as concerned with attracting and growing a younger generation of advisors while successful firms are “thinking of their legacy.”

That maturity of the RIA ecosystem, he said, is also attracting wirehouse brokers who are “not running from something but rather toward” the RIA model. While “we’ve never seen a appreciable spike” in the movement of advisors and assets from the wirehouses to the RIA model, Clark says it’s been a “consistent movement,” and has now become both a business decision and a “life experience” for those brokers. There are “tremendous people” in the wirehouses who nevertheless must operate in a “more conflicted model,” whereas in the RIA model they receive the “latitude to get deep with their clients” rather than operate under a “least common denominator regulatory scheme.”

Top Stocks To Buy Right Now

As part of Schwab’s own investment in the next generation of advisors, Clark reported that it had hosted 10 summer interns this past summer. Those were college students in their junior years, he said, and one has already been hired. Another program that Schwab had earlier announced, its executive leadership program for advisors, is slated to launch on Jan. 1, with instructors from leading universities and business schools like Harvard and MIT.

As for Impact’s roster of guest speakers, Clark said he was looking forward to hearing former Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, speak. “She’s not irreverent” about Congress, he said, but rather “disappointed,” and in her public speeches she’s attempting to be more influential from outside the Senate, taking a “more centrist” approach.

Michael Lewis, the author and another speaker at Impact, is expected to “start leaking more about his next book,” Clark said, while he's particularly looking forward to the inside-Washington perspective of former congressman and White House Chief of Staff Leon Pannetta.

As for announcements from Schwab during the conference, Clark promised news on the technology front, including e-signatures and e-authorizations, and other fronts. Schwab’s overall goal, he said, is to help its RIAs “sustain their growth.” To achieve that goal, advisors need to move from “getting caught in today” to spending time on their future. At Impact, Schwab wants to “create the space to focus on the future.”

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Friday, Sept. 20:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were pointing slightly down Friday while European and Asian stocks traded mostly lower following the Federal Reserve's surprise decision earlier this week not to scale back on its stimulus for the U.S. economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2% to close at 14,742.42 on Friday.

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday is bare. 3. -- U.S. stocks on Thursday finished mixed as investors processed a barrage of economic data a day after the S&P 500 reached new highs driven by the Federal Reserve's pledge to maintain its $85 billion a month bond-buying program pending stronger evidence of a healthy U.S. economy. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 1,722.34 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3% to 15,636.55. The Nasdaq rose 0.2% to 3,789.38. 4. -- Apple's (AAPL) new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c went on sale midnight Friday online and will be available in Apple stores at 8 a.m. local time. Both phones will be available in the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K. Wireless carriers and other retailers plan to sell the devices as well. It's the first time Apple is releasing two different iPhone models at once. The 5s is $199 with a two-year contract, includes a fingerprint sensor, a better camera and a faster processor. The 5s costs $100 more than the 5c, which has a few more extras than last year's iPhone 5. 5. -- Warren Buffett, when asked in a CNBC interview who should be the next Fed chairman, said he would have asked Ben Bernanke to stay in the job. "When you have a .400 hitter in the lineup you don't take him out," Buffett said in the interview. "He may want to leave, but I think he's done -- since the panic of five years ago -- I think he's done a terrific job. And I think he ought to get a little bit more of a chance to play out the hand," Buffett said. 6. -- Empire State Realty Trust, the real estate investment trust with the Empire State Building as its centerpiece, plans to launch an initial public offering of 71.5 million shares at $13 to $15 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday, Reuters reported. The shares are expected to price on Oct. 1, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. 7. -- Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) agreed to sell its remaining 13.4 million J.C. Penney (JCP) shares. At a recent conference, Vornado's Chief Administrative Officer Joseph Macnow said the REIT expected to exit its investment in J.C. Penney "in the not-too-distant future," according to a regulatory filing last week. Shares of J.C. Penney fell 2.3% on Thursday to $13.14.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: Quantum Energy Ltd (QTM.AX)

Quantum Energy Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and distribution of energy saving hot water, heating, and cooling systems for residential and commercial markets in Australia and internationally. It provides solar power systems, hot water heaters, and pool heaters, as well as commercial and industrial building heaters. The company is also involved in the distribution of medical products primarily in the field of nuclear medicine. Quantum Energy Limited is based in Alexandria, Australia.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: L'espresso(ESPI.MI)

Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso SpA, a multimedia company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the publishing, radio, advertising, Internet, and television (TV) businesses in Italy. It publishes la Repubblica, a national daily newspaper; and weekly supplements comprising Affari& Finanza, which offers business/finance content; Il Venerdi to provide information on lifestyle and TV programming; D - La Repubblica delle Donne for women; and Trova Roma and Tutto Milano, which are entertainment and leisure local guides, as well as monthly supplements, such as XL for young people and Velvet that provides content on fashion. The company also publishes L'Espresso, a weekly newsmagazine; monthly magazines, including National Geographic Italia, Le Scienze, and Mente & cervello; bimonthly magazines comprising Limes and MicroMega; Le Guide dell?Espresso, an annual guide to restaurants, hotels, and wines; and 17 local daily newspapers and a three-weekly paper. In addition, it operat es three national commercial radio stations, including Radio Deejay, Radio Capital, and Radio m2o; and Deejay TV, a national analog uncoded and digital terrestrial channel; My Deejay, a multimedia social network satellite TV channel; Repubblica TV, an Internet/digital terrestrial channel; and Ondalatina, a satellite TV channel of Latin music. Further, the company offers radio and video broadcasting contents, Web solutions, and services to private companies, as well as information, data banks, case studies, and original analyses and research services. Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso SpA is headquartered in Rome, Italy.

Hot Cheap Stocks For 2014: Imperial Tobacco Grp(IMT.L)

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC engages in the manufacture, marketing, distribution, and sale of tobacco and tobacco-related products worldwide. Its products include cigarettes, fine cut tobacco, cigars, snus, tubes, filters, and rolling paper products, as well as roll your own, make your own, and pipe tobaccos. The company sells its products under various brand names, such as Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, West, JPS, Fortuna, Redline, JPS Red, Ducados Rubio, Nobel Style, Rave, USA Gold, Sonoma, Route 66, Cohiba, Montecristo, JPS Silver, Windsor Blue, Knox, Skruf, Davidoff, Gauloises Blondes, Backwoods, Lambert & Butler, Golden Virginia, and Gold Leaf. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC also provides logistics services for tobacco product manufacturers, as well as to various customers in the convenience, telecommunications, transportation, pharmaceutical, publishing, and lottery sectors. The company was founded in 1901 and is based in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: LaPorte Bancorp Inc.(LPSB)

LaPorte Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for the The LaPorte Savings Bank, which provides commercial banking services to individuals and small businesses. The company?s deposits include savings accounts, health savings accounts, NOW accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and IRAs, as well as commercial checking accounts for businesses. Its lending portfolio includes one to four family residential loans, mortgage warehouse loans, commercial real estate loans, construction and land loans, commercial loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, and consumer and other loans. The company also offers trust services. It operates through eight branches in LaPorte and Porter Counties, Indiana. The company is based in LaPorte, Indiana. LaPorte Bancorp, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of LaPorte Savings Bank, MHC.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc.(BCRX)

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company, designs, optimizes, and develops small-molecule pharmaceuticals that block key enzymes involved in infectious diseases, cancer, and inflammatory diseases. It uses structure-based drug design, which incorporates multiple scientific disciplines, including biology, crystallography, medicinal chemistry, and computer to develop new therapeutic candidates. The company has three novel late-stage compounds in development, which include Peramivir, a neuraminidase inhibitor for the potential treatment of influenza; BCX4208, a purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor for gout; and Forodesine, a PNP inhibitor for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Peramivir is being developed under a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority within the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Forodesine has been granted orphan drug status by the FDA for thr ee indications, which include T-cell non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma, including CTCL; CLL and related leukemias, including T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia, adult T-cell leukemia, and hairy cell leukemia; and for treatment of B-ALL. The FDA has also granted fast track status to the development of forodesine for the treatment of relapsed or refractory T-cell leukemia, and special protocol assessment from the FDA for forodesine to conduct a pivotal clinical trial in CTCL with an oral formulation. The company announced the initiation of a Phase 2b study of BCX4208 as add-on therapy in gout patients who have not responded to allopurinol therapy alone. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals utilizes crystallography and structure-based drug design to discover additional compounds and to progress others through pre-clinical and early development to address the unmet medical needs of patients and physicians. The company was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BCRX) shares gained 5.98% to $6.91 in the pre-market session after the company has been awarded contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop BCX4430 for the treatment of Marburg virus disease.

• [By John Udovich]

  While the Twitter IPO has been grabing everyone�� attention, biotech IPOs continue to dominate both biotech and IPO news with Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: KPTI) going public yesterday and�Relypsa (NASDAQ: RLYP), TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TLOG), Vital Therapies (NASDAQ: VTL) and Xencor (NASDAQ: XNCR) filing to go public in the near future�(despite the sector producing some�ugly charts�for the month of October) plus�another small cap called TNI BioTech (OTCMKTS: TNIB) has also been producing a steady flow of news:

  Karyopharm Therapeutics Debuts. Yesterday, small cap Karyopharm Therapeutics, which is working on a drug that aids the body�� natural tumor-suppressing proteins,�debuted at the top of�its range to raise $109 million in an upsized�offering of 6.8 million shares at $16 apiece with shares closing at $16.81. It should be noted that Karyopharm Therapeutics��lead drug candidate (Selinexor) is in early-stage clinical trials�and the company lost�lost nearly $12.5 million on revenue of $366,000 during the first six months of this year. Biotech IPOs by Region. On an interesting note, Luke Timmerman, the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, has written a�good�article tracking biotech or life sciences IPOs by region. By his count, Boston is home to eight of the 45 (18%) of the life sciences IPOs this year (its companies have also�raised the most money - about $770 million)�plus�the New York/northern New Jersey region is also home to�eight. San Diego�came in third with six IPOs followed by San Francisco with five while only five of the 45 biotech IPOs�came from outside the�US (Three from Israel and two from Europe). However, the above figures may change as by his account, there are 15 additional biotech companies in line to go public. More Biotechs Set IPO Terms. The small cap biotech space is about to be joined by a few new additions as a couple of biotechs file to go public�over the past�week or so: Relypsa, which is d

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: Casual Male Retail Group Inc.(CMRG)

Casual Male Retail Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of men?s apparel in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It operates its stores under the Casual Male XL, Casual Male XL Outlets, Destination XL, Rochester Clothing, B & T Factory Direct, Shoes XL, and Living XL trade names. The company?s retail stores offer a range of basic sportswear, casual apparel, and dress wear and accessories, as well as a line of its private label collections, such as Harbor Bay, 626 Blue-Vintage Surplus, Synrgy, Oak Hill, and True Nation; casual clothing for the big and tall customers; loungewear, dress shirts, suits, and jeans wear; and luxury-oriented menswear. As of July 25, 2011, it operated 454 Casual Male XL retail and outlet stores, 15 Rochester Clothing stores, and 5 Destination XL stores. The company also operates a direct business, Shoes XL, which includes the shoesXL.com selling men?s footwear; livingxl.com and Living XL catalogs, speciali zing in selling select lifestyle products, such as chairs, outdoor accessories, and travel accessories, as well as bed and bath, and fitness equipment; and online stores for Casual Male XL and Rochester Clothing brands in the European countries, including the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. In addition, it offers a selection of apparel, from branded manufacturers, such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Robert Graham, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Ermenegildo Zegna, Cutter and Buck, Tommy Bahama, and Paul & Shark. The company was formerly known as Designs, Inc. and changed its name to Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. in August 2002 as a result of the acquisition of Casual Male business from Casual Male Corp. Casual Male Retail Group, Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: MS Structured Asset Corp Saturns GE Cap Corp Series 2002-14 (MKS)

MKS Instruments, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides instruments, subsystems, and process control solutions that measure, control, power, monitor, and analyze parameters of manufacturing processes worldwide. It offers instruments and control systems, such as pressure measurement and control, materials delivery, gas composition analysis, and control and information technology products. The company also provides power and reactive gas products comprising power delivery, reactive gas generation, processing thin films, and equipment cleaning products; and vacuum products, including vacuum containment components, vacuum gauges, vacuum valves, effluent management subsystems and custom stainless steel chambers, vessels, and pharmaceutical process equipment hardware and housings. Its products are used in the semiconductor processing steps, such as depositing thin films of material onto silicon wafer substrates, and etching and cleaning circuit patterns; manufacture of f lat panel displays, light emitting diodes, solar cells, data storage media, and other coatings, including architectural glass; energy generation and environmental monitoring processes, such as nuclear fuel processing, fuel cell research, greenhouse gas monitoring, and chemical agent detection; medical instrument sterilization; consumable medical supply manufacturing; and pharmaceutical applications. In addition, the company offers maintenance and repair, software maintenance, installation, and training services. It serves semiconductor capital equipment and device manufacturers, thin film capital equipment manufacturers, energy generation, environmental monitoring, and manufacturing companies, as well as government, universities, and industrial research laboratories. The company sells its products primarily through its direct sales force, as well as through sales representatives and agents. MKS Instruments, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Andover, Massachuse tts.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Namitha Jagadeesh]

  Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) slipped 7.2 percent for the worst performance on the FTSE 100. Marks & Spencer Group Plc (MKS) paced a decline among retailers. BT Group Plc (BT/A) climbed 1 percent after Citigroup Inc. raised its recommendation on the shares.

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Marks & Spencer (MKS) Group Plc climbed the most in three weeks after posting sales growth that exceeded projections. Ashmore Group Plc jumped the most in almost 4 1/2 years as the assets under its management increased. Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. dropped 4.7 percent after a report that its chairman has threatened to quit. Evraz Plc declined the most since November 2011 as it refrained from announcing a final dividend for 2012.

Best Warren Buffett Stocks To Buy For 2014: Grande Portage Resources Ltd. (GPG.V)

Grande Portage Resources Ltd., an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration and development of mineral resource properties in the United States and Canada. It primarily focuses on exploration for gold and silver. The company holds an option to acquire 65% interest in the Herbert Glacier gold property located in north of Juneau, Alaska. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Liberty's Net Income Plummets, but Long Term Is Great

Ever-expanding Liberty Media (NASDAQ: LMCA  ) posted a nearly $1 billion year-over-year revenue gain this quarter, but it still fell short of the Street's desires. On top of that, the company saw net income decline by two-thirds. Does this mean investors should shun the majority owner of Sirius XM Radio? Not at all. Liberty remains a highly compelling business run by some of the best minds in the industry. As the big media landscape continues to shift amid technological disruption, Liberty is likely to remain one of the most aggressive businesses available to investors. With the recent earnings report in mind, let's take a closer look.

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Looking back
Despite a substantial rise in revenue, Liberty Media took a hit on Tuesday due to a sharp cut in bottom-line earnings. Earning just $76 million in net income, the company was faced with high costs. Still, there is much for investors to celebrate in the company's latest quarter.

Liberty's chief property, Sirius XM, achieved record revenue of $962 million. Adjusted EBITDA, also at a record level, rose to $296 million. Liberty sold back 500 million of its shares to Sirius, earning the company a nice early profit on its massive investment.

Much of Liberty's quarter centered around financial engineering. The company bought back a 5.2% stake from competitor Comcast as part of a larger overall effort to reclaim stock -- now at 51% of outstanding shares. The company also managed a successful debt offering that was twice the initial amount, raising $1 billion at a 2023 maturity date.

As a reminder for investors, the company owns a near 25% stake in Charter Communications, which is reported to be considering a bid for Time Warner Cable as part of Liberty Chairman John Malone's vision of a highly consolidated cable industry. Liberty increased the size of its investment in Live Nation to $990 million, and lightened its position in Barnes & Noble to $231 million.

The drop in net income should not be taken too harshly, as the company's stakes in high-value entities remain a long-term advantage. So what's an investor to do?

Holding pattern
Before the year is over, we may see Charter make a bid for Time Warner Cable. While at this point there is little more than speculation, and the bid would have to be rich enough to satisfy a confident TWC management, this would be a big win for Charter, Liberty, and Malone.

Live Nation and its Ticketmaster business are absolute cash cows and great long-term investments for Liberty.

Barnes & Noble is the least appealing component in the company's portfolio, but it looks like management is working toward winding down the position.

Overall, Liberty Media is a great long-term media play, structured as a holding company with top-notch investors at the helm. The company has chosen its positions wisely, taking substantial stakes in industry-leading businesses that will without doubt continue to generate cash and earnings for themselves, Liberty, and investors.

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5 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now

In a new report, The U.S.-China Business Council reaffirmed China's importance to the U.S. economy. While China's GDP growth slows, dragging U.S. export growth down to 6.5%, the U.S. still shipped $109 billion in exports in 2012. Looking over the past decade, exports to China saw an average annual growth of nearly 17%, totaling $81 billion, or a 294% increase in exports to China from 2003 to 2012.�

Source: U.S.-China Business Council:�U.S. Exports to China by State, 2003-2012.

China's export markets' importance continues to grow.�The only countries that beat China for the United States' top export markets were Canada and Mexico -- U.S. neighbors and NAFTA trade partners. The council notes that exports to China supported a broad range of American sectors, from crop production to transportation equipment, illustrating that not only are U.S. companies and producers competitive in the global market, but they're also increasingly important to growing markets like China.

5 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: Suntech Power Holdings Co. LTD.(STP)

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd., a solar energy company, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products. The company also provides engineering, procurement, and construction services to building solar power systems for certain related party and third party customers. Its products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline silicon PV cells; PV modules; and building-integrated photovoltaics products. In addition, the company provides PV system integration services, including designing, installing, and testing PV systems used in lighting for outdoor urban public facilities, as well as in farms, villages, and commercial buildings; and project development services. Its products are used to provide electric power for residential, commercial, industrial, and public utility applications. The company sells its products through value-added resellers, such as distributors and system integrators; and to end users, such as project develo pers primarily in Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Benelux, Greece, the United States, Canada, China, the Middle East, Australia, and Japan. Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Wuxi, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Case and point is the accounting fiasco that's brought Suntech Power (NYSE: STP  ) to its knees. The company's investment in Global Solar Fund S.C.A. unraveled last year and the company suddenly disclosed hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities that investors weren't expecting. The stock has plunged, Suntech has missed debt payments, and the company's largest subsidiary is now in bankruptcy.

5 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: CNOOC Limited(CEO)

CNOOC Limited, through its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, production, and sale of crude oil, natural gas, and other petroleum products. The company?s oil and natural gas properties are located in offshore China, which include Bohai Bay, western south China Sea, eastern south China Sea, and east China Sea, as well as in Indonesia, Iraq, and other regions in Asia; and Oceania, Africa, North America, and South America. As of December 31, 2010, the company had net proved reserves of approximately 2.99 billion barrels-of-oil equivalent, including approximately 1.92 billion barrels of crude oil and 6,458.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It also provides bond issuance services; and has a joint venture with Bridas Energy Holdings. CNOOC Limited was founded in 1982. The company is headquartered in Central, Hong Kong, and is considered a Red Chip company due to its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CNOOC Limited is a subsidiary of China National Of fshore Oil Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Arjun Sreekumar]

  Notable foreign joint ventures
  The practice has been quite common among foreign companies engaging in joint ventures with U.S. firms. For instance, the use of a drilling carry was a feature of Chesapeake Energy's (NYSE: CHK  ) transaction with China's largest energy company, CNOOC (NYSE: CEO  ) , back in 2010, though it was noticeably absent from its most recent joint venture agreement with Sinopec (NYSE: SHI  ) .

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks inched lower early Friday, with mainland Chinese banks and energy shares among the weak spots. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) lost 0.1% to 22,824.44, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index down 0.4%, even as the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.1%. Concerns about the fiscal health of the top mainland lenders loomed again over the shares, with Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988) (BACHY) down 0.9%, Bank of Communications Co. (HK:3328) (BKFCF) 1.3% lower, and China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) off 0.7%. In the energy sector, Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883) (CEO) gave up 0.9% after posting a 17% gain in third-quarter revenue but not reporting its profit for the period. Its peers also lost ground, as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (HK:386) (SNP) and PetroChina Co. (HK:857) (PTR) fell 1% apiece. On the upside, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. (HK:762) (CHU) added 1.6% after announcing a gain of more than 50% for its quarterly profit compared to a year earlier. Rival China Mobile Ltd. (HK:941

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Endeavor owns assets onshore in the U.S. and in the U.K. region of the North Sea. The company expects to begin production ��mminently��at the Rochelle field which will be operated by Nexen, the former Canadian firm that was acquired by China�� Cnooc Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) earlier this year.

Top 5 Clean Energy Companies To Invest In Right Now: China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Limited(CHOP)

China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Limited engages in the manufacture and sale of cold-rolled narrow strip steel products in the People's Republic of China. The company converts steel manufactured by third parties into thin steel sheets and strips. It sells its products directly to its customers in a range of industries, including food and industrial packaging, construction and household decorations materials, electrical appliances, and telecommunications wires and cables industries. The company was formerly known as Golden Green Enterprises Limited and changed its name to China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Limited in December 2009. China Gerui Advanced Materials Group Limited is based in Zhengzhou, China.

5 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: China Telecom Corp Ltd (CHA)

China Telecom Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides wireline and mobile telecommunications services in the People's Republic of China. The company?s services include wireline voice, mobile voice, Internet, managed data and leased line, value-added services, integrated information application services, and other related services, as well as prepaid calling cards. Its wireline voice services include local wireline services, domestic long distance wireline services, and international long distance wireline services. The company's mobile voice services comprise local calls, domestic long distance calls, international long distance calls, intra-provincial roaming, inter-provincial roaming, and international roaming. Its Internet access services consist of wireline Internet access services, including dial-up and broadband services, and wireless Internet access services. The company's integrated information application services include Best Tone services, which provide customers with phone number storage, enquiry, and call transfer services; and information technology-based integrated solutions, such as system integration, outsourcing, special advisory, information application, knowledge services, and software development. Its managed data and leased line services consist of services relating to optic fiber and circuits, such as optic fiber and circuit leasing, virtual private network, and bandwidth leasing. The company also offers other services, such as sales, rental, repairs, and maintenance of equipment; and provides consulting services, and e-commerce and booking services, as well as in the sale of telecommunications terminals. It serves government, enterprise, and residential customers. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. China Telecom Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of China Telecommunications Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Hong Kong stocks inched lower early Friday, with mainland Chinese banks and energy shares among the weak spots. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) lost 0.1% to 22,824.44, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index down 0.4%, even as the Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.1%. Concerns about the fiscal health of the top mainland lenders loomed again over the shares, with Bank of China Ltd. (HK:3988) (BACHY) down 0.9%, Bank of Communications Co. (HK:3328) (BKFCF) 1.3% lower, and China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) off 0.7%. In the energy sector, Cnooc Ltd. (HK:883) (CEO) gave up 0.9% after posting a 17% gain in third-quarter revenue but not reporting its profit for the period. Its peers also lost ground, as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (HK:386) (SNP) and PetroChina Co. (HK:857) (PTR) fell 1% apiece. On the upside, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. (HK:762) (CHU) added 1.6% after announcing a gain of more than 50% for its quarterly profit compared to a year earlier. Rival China Mobile Ltd. (HK:941

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  While China Mobile has never officially offered the device, the two smaller carriers do. China Unicom (NYSE: CHU  ) was the first Chinese iPhone carrier in 2009, and China Telecom (NYSE: CHA  ) followed suit in 2012. China Unicom and China Telecom have been consistently chipping away at China Mobile's lead in the lucrative market for 3G subscribers, a trend that has widely been attributable in part to the iPhone.

• [By WWW.MARKETWATCH.COM]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Stocks in Hong Kong logged gains Tuesday, with the equity benchmark aided by a bump higher in financial shares. The Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI) rose 0.3% to 22,887.80, as China Merchants Bank Co. (HK:3968) (CIHHF) (CN:600036) climbed 2.1% ahead of the company's financial results due later Tuesday. Stock in China Construction Bank Corp. (HK:939) (CICHF) (CN:601939) rose 1.4%, extending Monday's advance of 1.1% despite China's second-largest bank by assets reporting slower-than-expected quarterly profit growth. Meanwhile, shares of China Telecom Corp. (HK:728) (CHA) slipped 0.3% despite the company's report that its third-quarter profit jumped 20% on stronger data sales driven by iPhone users. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index popped higher by 1.4% and on the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index (CN:SHCOMP) rose 0.6%.

• [By Doug Young]

  I've been writing about the VNO development for awhile now, as it's really quite exciting with the potential to instantly triple the number of telecoms service providers in the market from the current three to a new field of 8-9 operators. Equally important, most of those new operators, which would lease network capacity from the existing three telcos, are private sector firms. That means they should be much more nimble and innovative than the current monopoly of three big state-run companies, China Mobile, China Unicom (CHU) and China Telecom (CHA).

5 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: Vanceinfo Technologies Inc(VIT)

VanceInfo Technologies Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of information technology (IT) services. The company offers research and development services in various phases of development, including requirements analysis, concept generation, product realization, quality assurance and testing, and technology and information transfer; and develops software products, such as middlewares, Internet protocols, and other software. It provides enterprise solutions for packaged evaluation and selection, packaged implementation, customization, regional rollout, version upgrades, and business intelligence/data warehouse, as well as enhancement, maintenance, and product support; and designs, develops, and implements software solutions to meet various client requirements, and provides maintenance services for software systems. VanceInfo also offers customized and automated testing practices, which include functional testing, globalization and localization testi ng, automation testing, performance testing, remote testing, and test process consulting; and globalization and localization services that comprise software and content localization, localization engineering, localization testing, internationalization engineering, and internationalization testing. The company serves technology, telecommunications, financial services, manufacturing, and retail and distribution industries primarily in China, the United States, Europe, and Japan. VanceInfo Technologies Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People?s Republic of China.

Barclays Wins Dismissal of NCUA Case - Analyst Blog

Best Dividend Stocks To Own For 2014

Barclays PLC (BCS) heaved a sigh of relief when the U.S. District Judge in Kansas City dismissed a case by National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) – the U.S. regulator for credit unions. The lawsuit had accused the company of selling risky mortgage based securities (MBS) worth approximately $555 million from 2006–2007.

While dismissing the case, the U.S. District Judge stated that the NCUA had waited too long to file the case against Barclays. The chargesheet should have been lodged within 3 years (by Mar 20, 2012) of the NCUA being named the conservator of credit unions. However, the case was filed in Sep 2012.

Barclays was accused of selling MBS to 2 corporate credit unions – the U.S. Federal Credit Union and the Western Corporate Federal Credit Union – leading to their failure in 2009. Since then, the NCUA has been trying to recover the losses.

The dismissal of the case is a setback for the NCUA. The regulator had sued 10 major global banks on similar charges.

Out of these, Bank of America Corporation (BAC), Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings plc (HBC) and Citigroup Inc. settled their respective cases with the NCUA, thereby enabling the regulator to recover roughly $335 million. However, Credit Suisse Group, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Company, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and UBS AG continue to face similar charges from the NCUA.

The dismissal of the case removes a legal headwind for Barclays. However, the company still faces a number of lawsuits related to its conduct during the financial crisis. Though the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) manipulation scandal led to a fine of £290 million ($453 million) in Jun 2012, Barclays has moved forward to regain investors' confidence through various transformational initiatives.

Currently, Barclays carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).