Best Telecom Companies To Buy Right Now

The more uncertain the economic climate feels, the more likely the Fed will continue to delay tapering, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks, and continue driving bonds and bond proxy stocks up.

With the shutdown/debt ceiling crisis behind us, the stock market is free to worry about a slowdown in US economic growth and to hope for a delay in the Federal Reserve's taper until sometime in 2014.

That's pushing the US market away from growth-sensitive stocks and toward what James Mackintosh of the Financial Times called ��ond proxies��on Friday.

That means stocks with safe dividends that won't be cut, even if the economy stumbles.

Thursday's market leaders were telecom stocks (up 1.7%), utilities (up 1.6%), and consumer staples (up 0.8%) on a day when the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index (SPX) climbed just 0.67%.

The worry here, of course, is that a US economy that wasn't growing fast enough for the Fed to begin to withdraw any of it stimulus, even before the shutdown/debt ceiling crisis, will show even slower growth in the fourth quarter because of that crisis. And that the damage will extend into 2014 because we're scheduled to revisit the shutdown and debt ceiling battles in January and February of 2014.

5 Best Media Stocks To Invest In 2015: NII Holdings Inc.(NIHD)

NII Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides wireless communication services under the Nextel brand name to businesses and individuals in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Its services include mobile telephone service; Nextel Direct Connect service, which allows subscribers to talk to each other on a push-to-talk basis for private one-to-one calls or on group calls. The company also provides value-added services, including text messaging services; mobile Internet services; e-mail services; location-based services, such as the use of global positioning system technologies; digital media services; and a set of applications available via its content management system and the Android open application market. In addition, it offers business solutions, such as security, work force management, logistics support, and other applications to improve productivity; and international roaming services. NII Holdings, Inc. sells its products and services through direct sales representatives, indirect sales agents, retail stores, kiosks, and Website. The company was formerly known as Nextel International, Inc. and changed its name to NII Holdings, Inc. in December 2001. NII Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Reston, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lisa Levin]

  NII Holdings (NASDAQ: NIHD) shares dropped 2.19% to reach a new 52-week low of $2.91. NII Holdings' trailing-twelve-month ROE is -72.60%.

  Foundation Medicine (NASDAQ: FMI) shares tumbled 7.58% to reach a new 52-week low of $21.23. Foundation Medicine's trailing-twelve-month profit margin is -147.08%.

Best Telecom Companies To Buy Right Now: Enventis Corp (ENVE)

Enventis Corporation, formerly HickoryTech Corporation, is an integrated communications provider. The Company has a five-state fiber network spanning more than 3,250 route miles with facilities-based operations across Minnesota and into Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Enventis Telecom, Inc. (Enventis) provides business Internet protocol (IP) voice, data and video solutions, Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) networking, data center and managed hosted services and communication systems. HickoryTech delivers broadband, Internet, digital television (TV), voice and data services to businesses and consumers in southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa. The Company�� operations are conducted through nine subsidiaries. Its Fiber and Data and Equipment Segments subsidiaries include Enventis, Enterprise Integration Services, Inc. (EIS) and IdeaOne. Its Telecom Segment subsidiaries include Mankato Citizens Telephone Company (MCTC), Mid-Communications, Inc. (Mid-Com), Heartland Telecommunications Company of Iowa, Inc. (Heartland), Cable Network, Inc. (CNI), Crystal Communications, Inc. (Crystal) and National Independent Billing, Inc. (NIBI). The Company operates in three segments: Fiber and Data, Equipment and Telecom. The Company formed Enterprise Integration Services, Inc. (EIS) on January 2, 2012. On March 1, 2012, the Company acquired IdeaOne Telecom Group, LLC.

Fiber and Data and Equipment segments portion of its business serves customers across a five-state region with IP-based voice, transport, data and network solutions, managed services, equipment, network integration and support services. Through its regional fiber network, the Company provides wholesale fiber and data services to regional and national service providers, including interexchange and wireless carriers. It also specializes in providing integrated unified communication solutions for businesses, such as enterprise multi-office organizations, small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), primarily in the Upper Midwes! t. Residential customers are not targeted by the Fiber and Data or Equipment Segments. Its Telecom Segment provides residential and business services, including high-speed Internet, broadband services, digital TV and voice services in its legacy telecom markets. Telecom consists of the operation of local telephone companies or incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) and the operation of a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC). All of its telecom operations are operated as one integrated unit. Its ILECs and CLEC are the primary users of the services provided by its subsidiary, National Independent Billing, Inc. (NIBI). NIBI also sells its services externally to other companies in the communications industry.

Fiber and Data and Equipment Segments

The Company, through its two business-to-business segments, Fiber and Data and Equipment, provides integrated data services and fiber based communication solutions, including IP-based voice, data and network solutions to business customers in the Upper Midwest. The product portfolio includes fiber, data and Internet, Voice and Voice over IP (VoIP), Managed and hosted services and data center services. As of December 31, 2011, it owned or had long-term leases to approximately 2,175 fiber route miles of fiber optic cable, including 225 miles acquired with the IdeaOne acquisition and has metro fiber optic rings that directly connect the network with businesses (interexchange carriers, wireless carriers, retail, health care, Government and education customers). Additional local fiber rings connect its network to local telephone central offices along with the Telecom Sector network, which has 1,155 fiber optic miles. It also serves customers through interconnections that are leased from third party service providers.

The Company�� product portfolio includes SingleLink Unified Communications (SingleLink), a hosted or managed IP communications service, which includes local and long distance voice, business IP telephony via ! a hosted ! IP private branch exchange, unified messaging and Internet access. The SingleLink solution is primarily targeted at SMB customers but also has enterprise customer applications. IdeaOne Telecom Group, LLC is a metro fiber network provider in Fargo, North Dakota. IdeaOne provides data networking, Internet, colocation, phone and hosting services to approximately 3,600 customers in the Fargo area. The acquisition added 225 fiber route miles to HickoryTech�� regional network. It has Minnesota offices located in Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester and operates data centers in Edina, Duluth and Mankato. It also has an office located in the Des Moines, Iowa area. The Equipment segment product portfolio includes equipment solutions, total care support and monitoring and professional services. The Company provides converged IP services that allow all communications (voice, video and data) to use the same IP data infrastructure. Equipment solutions include TelePresence, Unified Communications, Data Center and Virtualization, Professional Services, Total Care and Security.

Telecom

The Telecom Segment provides local telephone service, long distance, calling features, digital subscriber line (DSL), Internet, digital TV, data services and a phone book directory to residents and businesses in its legacy markets. As an auxiliary business, the data processing services of NIBI are also included within this Sector. Telecom includes three ILECs: MCTC, Mid-Com and Heartland. MCTC and Mid-Com provide telephone services in south central Minnesota, specifically the Mankato, Minnesota region, and 11 rural communities surrounding Mankato. Heartland, its third ILEC, provides telephone services for 11 rural communities in northwest Iowa. In total, there are 23 ILEC exchanges within this Segment. Also included is a CLEC, Crystal, which provides services in south central Minnesota and near Des Moines, Iowa. There are eight Minnesota CLEC exchanges and two Iowa CLEC exchanges. NIBI provides data processing an! d related! services for its affiliated companies, as well as for other ILECs, CLECs, interexchange network carriers, wireless companies and cable TV providers throughout the United States and Canada.

The Company owns and operates a 1,075 mile fiber optic network and facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. These facilities are used to transport voice, data and video services between the Company�� exchanges, to connect customers to interexchange carriers and to provide service directly to end users. This network is interconnected with its 2,175 fiber mile network in the Fiber and Data Segment. Its Minnesota ILECs and CLEC are the primary users of these fiber optic cable facilities. The Company provides interexchange telephone access by connecting the communications networks of interexchange carriers and wireless carriers with the equipment and facilities of end users through its switched networks or private lines. As local exchange telephone companies, it provides end office switching and circuits to long distance interexchange carriers. The Company provides access to its network for interexchange carriers to conduct long distance business with individual customers who select a long distance carrier for the origination and termination of calls to all customers.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anna Prior]

  Consolidated Communications Holdings Inc.(CNSL) has agreed to acquire broadband communications provider Enventis Corp.(ENVE) in an all-stock deal that values Enventis at about $228 million. The deal values Enventis at about $16.50 a share, a 17% premium to Friday’s close.

Best Telecom Companies To Buy Right Now: j2 Global Inc (JCOM)

j2 Global, Inc., incorporated on December 14, 1995, is a provider of services delivered through the Internet. The Company provides cloud services to businesses of all sizes, from individuals to enterprises. The Company operates in two segments: Business Cloud Services and Digital Media. The Company's Digital Media business segment consists of the Web properties and business operations of Ziff Davis, Inc. (Ziff Davis). The Company�� cloud services and solutions include fax, voice and unified communications, email and customer relationship management, online backup, global network and operations, and customer support services. In February 2013, it acquired IGN Entertainment, Inc. On November 9, 2012, the Company acquired Ziff Davis. Effective March 18, 2013, it acquired MetroFax Inc. In April 2013, the Company acquired Backup Connect BV.

Business Cloud Services

The Company's eFax and MyFax online fax services enable users to receive faxes into their email inboxes and to send faxes via the Internet. eVoice and Onebox provides the Company's customers a virtual phone system with various available enhancements. The Company's FuseMail service provides the Company's customers email, archival and perimeter protection solutions, while Campaigner provides its customers email marketing solutions. KeepItSafe enables the Company's customers to securely backup their data and dispose of tape or other physical systems. The Company's CampaignerCRM business provides customer relationship management solutions designed to increase the Company's customers' sales and increase efficiency. The Company also generates Business Cloud Services revenues from patent licensing and sales and advertising. The Company�� Business Cloud Services and solutions are of two types: direct inward-dial number (DID) -based, which are services provided in whole or in part through a telephone number and non-DID-based, which are its other cloud services for business. As of December 31, 2012, the Company had DIDs issued! to approximately 2.1 million paying subscribers.

The Company's services allow individuals to receive and send faxes as email attachments. In addition to eFax , the Company offers online fax services under a variety of alternative brands, including MyFax , eFax Plus , eFax Pro, eFax Corporate and eFax Developer . eVoice is a virtual phone system that provides small and medium-sized businesses on-demand voice communications services, featuring a toll-free or local company DID, auto-attendant and menu tree. With these services, a subscriber can assign departmental and individual extensions that can connect to multiple United States or Canadian DIDs, including land-line and mobile phones and Internet protocol (IP) networks. These services also include advanced integrated voicemail for each extension, unifying mobile, office and other separate voicemail services and improving efficiency by delivering voicemails in both native audio format and as transcribed text. Onebox is a unified communications suite. It combines the features of many of the Company's other branded services, plus added functionality, to provide a virtual office. Onebox includes a virtual phone system, hosted email, online fax, audio conferencing and Web conferencing.

FuseMail offers hosted email, email encryption and email archival services to businesses. These solutions are hosted offsite and seamlessly integrated into a customer's existing email system. The services include hosted email, VirusSMART virus scanning, CypherSMART encryption services, SpamSMART SPAM filtering and VaultSMART / PolicySMART archiving, which delivers a secure, scalable email archiving and customizable compliance tool to correspond with a company's retention policy. Campaigner is an email marketing service that enables businesses to easily create and send personalized one-to-one email communications to subscribers and customers to build better relationships. Campaigner also helps businesses increase the size of their mailing lists, compl! y with em! ail regulations like CAN-SPAM and get more emails to more inboxes. CampaignerCRM is a cloud-based CRM solution specifically designed to help small/medium-sized businesses close more deals, reduce the sales cycle and sell larger deals. CampaignerCRM has a sales checklist capability that gives sales representatives a step-by-step plan to closing a deal. With CampaignerCRM's Social CRM capabilities, companies can seamlessly integrate a customer's latest information from Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook directly into their Contact profile. KeepItSafe provides managed and monitored online backup solutions for businesses, using its ISO-certified platform.

The Company's Business Cloud Services business operates multiple physical Points of Presence (POPs) worldwide, a central data center in Los Angeles and several remote disaster recovery facilities. The Company connects its POPs to its central data centers through redundant, and often times diverse, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using the Internet. The Company's network is designed to deliver value-added user applications, customer support and billing services for the Company's customers anywhere in the world and a local presence for its DID-based service customers from thousands of cities in 49 countries on six continents. The Company offers DIDs covering all major metropolitan areas in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and such other major cities as Berlin, Hong Kong, Madrid, Manila, Mexico City, Milan, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo and Zurich. The Company has customers located throughout the world.

The Company's Business Cloud Services customer service organization supports the Company's cloud services customers through a combination of online self-help, email communications, interactive chat sessions and telephone calls. The Company's Internet-based online self-help tools enable customers to resolve simple issues on their own, eliminating the need to speak or write to the Company's customer service re! presentat! ives. The Company's Business Cloud Services segment customer service organization provides email support seven days per week, 24 hours per day to all subscribers. Paying subscribers have access to live-operator telephone support seven days per week, 24 hours per day. Dedicated telephone support is provided for corporate customers 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Live sales and customer support services are available in nine languages, including English, Spanish, Dutch, German, French and Cantonese.

Digital Media

The Ziff Davis portfolio of Web properties, including PCMag.com, ExtremeTech.com, Geek.com, ComputerShopper.com, LogicBuy.com and Toolbox.com features reviews of technology products, technology-oriented news and commentary, professional networking tools for IT professionals and online deals and discounts for consumers. The Company generates Digital Media revenues from the sale of display advertising targeted to in-market technology buyers and from the sale of customer leads to online merchants and business-to-business leads to IT vendors. During the year ended December 31, 2012, Digital Media Web properties attracted 345 million visits and 1.1 billion page views.

PCMag is a trusted online resource for laboratory-based product reviews, technology news and buying guides. Toolbox.com is a network of online communities that allows experienced technology professionals to share collective knowledge and collaborate to resolve problems more efficiently. Toolbox.com includes professional networking tools, blogs, collaboration tools and reference guides. Geek.com is an online technology resource and community for technology enthusiasts and professionals. Its gaming site includes IGN.com and men's lifestyle site includes AskMen.com.

The Company competes with Google AdSense, DoubleClick Ad Exchange, AOL's Ad.com and Microsoft Media Network.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Smith]

  j2 Global (NASDAQ: JCOM  ) just keeps on growing -- by acquisition.

  In its third corporate purchase in the past three months, j2 announced this morning that it has acquired Netherlands-based Backup Connect BV, a provider of online data backup services.

Best Telecom Companies To Buy Right Now: Softbank Corp (SFTBF)

SOFTBANK CORP. is a Japan-based company that provides digital information services. The Company has six business segments. The Mobile Communication segment provides cellular phone services and sells attached cellular phone terminals. The Broadband and Infrastructure segment provides high-speed Internet access services, Internet protocol (IP) phone service, and contents. The Fixed Communication segment provides transmission services for audio and data, as well as exclusive line and data center services. The Internet Culture segment is engaged in the Internet advertising, broadband portal and auction businesses. The Electronic Commerce (E-Commerce) segment sells personal computers (PCs), peripheral devices and software for PC use, as well as provides business-to-business and business-to-customer e-commerce services. The Others segment is involved in the broadcasting media, technology service, media marketing and overseas fund businesses.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Inman]

  Shares in Softbank Corp. (JP:9984) � (SFTBF) ���one of the largest constituents on the Nikkei Average ��fell 2.2% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm�� Sprint (S) �unit is considering a takeover of its smaller rival T-Mobile US (TMUS) , with a bid potentially coming in the first half of 2014.