Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Top 5 International Stocks To Invest In 2014

CNN released its new primetime lineup Thursday, going heavy on documentary-style shows in hopes of reversing sagging ratings.

Several industry veterans -- Mike Rowe, John Walsh and Lisa Ling -- will join the network starting late summer. And two of the current personalities that helped pave the way for the network's documentary-centric strategy -- Anthony Bourdain and Morgan Spurlock -- will have their shows renewed.

Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel series "Dirty Jobs," will join CNN this fall with a series about innovators, do-gooders, entrepreneurs, collectors and fanatics. "Somebody's Gotta Do It" will "viewers face-to-face with men and women who march to the beat of a different drum," the network said.

Walsh, former host of "America's Most Wanted," returns with "The Hunt with John Walsh," a series about "ongoing international criminal investigations in which the suspect is a fugitive at large."

Top Building Product Stocks To Invest In 2015: AB SKF (SKFRY.PK)

AB SKF, formerly SKF AB, is a global supplier of products, solutions and services within rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. The services provided by the Company include technical support, maintenance services, condition monitoring and training. The Company operates in three divisions: Industrial Division and Service Division, servicing industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket customers respectively, and Automotive Division, servicing automotive OEMs and aftermarket customers. SKF operates in around 40 customer segments, including cars and light trucks, wind energy, railway, machine tool, medical, food and beverage and paper industries. In April 2009, the Company acquired the remaining 49% interest in SKF Polyseal.

In February 2008, the Company acquired QPMAerospaces�� metallic rods business. In October 2008, the Company acquired Cirval S.A Argentina. In November 2008, the Company acquired GLO s.r.l. Italy. In December 2008, the Company acquired the remaining 30% of the operations of SKF Automotive Bearings Company. In September 2008, the Company acquired PEER Bearing Company and its manufacturing units in the People�� Republic of China and Thailand.

Industrial Division

The Industrial Division serves industrial OEMs customers in some 30 global industry customer segments with a range of energy-efficient offerings. The solutions and know-how are based on the manufacturing of a wide range of bearings, such as spherical and cylindrical roller bearings, angular contact ball bearings, medium deep groove ball bearings and superprecision bearings, as well as lubrication systems, linear motion products, magnetic bearings, by-wire systems and couplings.

Service Division

The Service Division serves the global industrial aftermarket providing products and knowledge-based services for customers��plant asset efficiency. The solutions are based on SKF�� knowledge of bearings, sea! ls, lubrication systems, mechatronics and services, and customers are served by SKF and its network of over 7,000 authorized distributors. The division runs a network of Condition Monitoring Centres, which designs and produces global hardware and software. Service Division is also responsible for all SKF�� sales in certain markets.

Automotive Division

The Automotive Division serves manufacturers of cars, light trucks, heavy trucks, buses, two-wheelers and the vehicle service market, supporting them in bringing solutions to global markets. In addition, the division provides energy-saving solutions for home appliances, power tools and electric motors. Within the Automotive Division, SKF develops and manufactures bearings, seals and related products and services. Products include wheel hub bearing units, tapered roller bearings, small deep groove ball bearings, seals, and automotive specialty products for engine, steering and driveline applications. For the vehicle service market, the division provides complete repair kits, including a range of drive shafts and constant velocity joints.

Logistics Services

SKF�� business is supported by its logistics processes and systems, which involve all parts of the logistics needs in the supply chain. SKF Logistics Services provides warehousing, transportation, packaging and inventory management based on seamless information and communication technology for the SKF Group globally.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Stephen Simpson, CFA]

    I wrote on bearings and velocity control products company Kaydon (KDN) in early March of this year, and I didn't see a lot of value at the time. As the year went on, that call looked worse and worse, as the stock climbed about 18% - well above the S&P 500, and well above industry peers/competitors like Timken (TKR) and SKF (SKFRY.PK). To top it all off, Kaydon announced this morning (September 5) that it had received and accepted a buyout offer from SKF valuing the company at $35.50 - some 45% higher than the price when I thought it looked only about 10% undervalued. So what did I get wrong here, and what can investors do to avoid a similar mistake?

Top 5 International Stocks To Invest In 2014: ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC)

ITC Holdings Corp., through its subsidiaries, engages in the transmission of electricity in the United States. The company operates as conduits, allowing for power from generators to be transmitted to local distribution systems either entirely through its own systems or in conjunction with neighboring transmission systems. Its operations include asset planning; engineering, design, and construction; maintenance; and real time operations. ITC Holdings serves investor-owned utilities, municipalities, cooperatives, power marketers, and alternative energy suppliers. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Novi, Michigan.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Richard Stavros]

    In fact, investment opportunities in this niche could soon be on the rise. Several utilities have been considering creating standalone transmission companies this year, including Xcel Energy Inc (NYSE: XEL). But whether it’s a standalone company or the sale of transmission assets to a transmission company, regulatory approval will still be key. For instance, regulators declined Entergy Corp’s (NYSE: ETR) sale of its transmission assets to transmission company ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC) in 2013.

  • [By Ben Levisohn]

    Now don’t misunderstand. Gordon isn’t telling investors to avoid all regulated utilities. He has some favorites, including American Electric Power (AEP), Dominion Resources (D), ITC Holdings (ITC), Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) and Westar Energy (WR).

Top 5 International Stocks To Invest In 2014: iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (IWM)

iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund (the Fund) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Russell 2000 Index (the Index). The Index measures the performances of the small capitalization sector of the United States equity market. The Index includes approximately 8% of the market capitalization of all publicly traded United States equity securities.

The Index is a subset of the Russell 3000 Index, and serves as the underlying index for the Russell 2000 Growth and Value Index series. The Index is a capitalization-weighted index of the approximately 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index. The Fund uses a representative sampling strategy in seeking to track the Index. iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jim Fink]

    Simply buying a small-cap ETF like the iShares Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) of the iShares Russell Microcap (NYSE: IWC) doesn’t work. Over the past 11 years, the Russell 2000 index (median market  cap of $460 million) has declined in January seven times (64% of the time) and has actually performed worse than the S&P 500 a majority of the time (6 out of 11). The Russell Microcap index (median market cap of $152 million) has only been around for seven Januarys (since 2006) and it has underperformed the S&P 500 in four of those years (a majority of the time). December relative performance has been no better for IWM, which underperformed the S&P 500 a majority of the time over the past 11 years, but IWC has done much better in December, outperforming the S&P 500 in each of its first seven years of existence. Like I said earlier, however, microcap “gains” are suspect.

  • [By Editor , Zacks Investment Research]

    The trend towards small caps has become particularly pronounced in the past three months with the capitalization level clearly beating out large caps in this time frame. Current performances show small cap ETFs like iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM) gaining about 13.5% in the time period, with SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) putting up gains of just 8.4% in comparison.

  • [By Tom Lydon]

    Over the past three months, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) has gained 7.4%, compared to the broad market SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) that has added 4%. It has been noted that small-cap stocks tend to outperform large-caps during an economic recovery. Overall, this asset class also tends to add value to a portfolio, and reduces overall risk.

  • [By David Trainer]


    Over the past five years, small caps have handily outperformed large caps. The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) rose by 153% since 2009 compared to 115% for the S&P 500. However, we believe the disparity in their performances signifies that small caps are now overvalued. The Russell 2000 currently has a price to economic book value ratio of 5.1, nearly double that of the S&P 500. There are still quality small-caps out there, but on average small caps are overvalued compared to large and mid cap stocks.

Top 5 International Stocks To Invest In 2014: Western Digital Corp (WDC)

Western Digital Corporation (WD) is a provider of solutions for the collection, storage, management, protection and use of digital content, including audio and video. Its principal products are hard drives, which are devices that use one or more rotating magnetic disks (magnetic media) to store and allow access to data. Its hard drives are used in desktop and notebook computers, corporate and cloud computing data centers, home entertainment equipment and stand-alone consumer storage devices. In addition to hard drives, its other products include solid-state drives and home entertainment and networking products. The Company operates as the parent company of its hard drive business, Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Effective March 8, 2012, the Company acquired Viviti Technologies Ltd. In May 2012, the Company completed the divestiture of certain 3.5-inch hard drive assets to Toshiba Corporation. As part of its deal with Toshiba, WD also completed its purchase of Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand) Company Limited (TSDT), which manufactured hard drives.

The Company offers a line of storage devices. Its hard drives include 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch form factors, capacities ranging from 80 gigabytes to three terabytes, nominal rotation speeds up to 10,000 revolutions per minute, and interfaces, such as Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) and Serial Attached SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) (SAS). In addition, the Company offers a family of hard drives specifically designed to consume less power than standard drives, utilizing its WD GreenPower Technology. Its solid-state drives include 2.5-inch and Compact Flash form factors, capacities ranging from 1 gigabyte to 256 gigabytes, and interfaces, such as SATA and PATA.

Client Compute Storage Products

Client compute consists of hard drives and solid-state drives for desktop and mobile personal computers (PC��). During the fiscal year ended July 1, 2011 (fiscal 2011), it shipped 151 million hard drive clie! nt compute unit. Its client compute storage products include WD Caviar, WD Scorpio and WD Silicon Edge. WD Caviar family of hard drives is designed for use in desktop PCs. WD Scorpio family of hard drives is designed for use in mobile PCs. WD Silicon Edge family of solid-state drives is designed for both read-intensive client/consumer applications and write-intensive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) applications.

Client Non-Compute Storage Products

Client non-compute consists of branded products and consumer electronics products. Its hard drive client non-compute unit shipments were 46 million, during fiscal 2011.

Branded Products

Branded products consists of hard drives embedded into WD-branded external storage appliances with capacities ranging from 250 gigabytes to 8 terabytes and using interfaces, such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, USB 3.0, external SATA, FireWire and Ethernet network connections. Certain branded products models include software that assists customers with back up, remote access and management of digital content. Branded products also include its home entertainment and networking products. Its branded products include My Book and WD Elements Desktop family of storage appliances. My Passport and WD Elements Portable family of storage appliances include WD ShareSpace, WD TV and WD Livewire.

My Book and WD Elements Desktop family of storage appliances are designed to add external capacity to desktops and digital video recorders (DVRs), allow for the transfer and storage of videos directly from certain camcorders, and connect to networks to simplify storage for consumers. My Passport and WD Elements Portable family of storage appliances are designed for external portability weighing less than one-half of a pound and allow for the transfer and storage of videos directly from certain camcorders. WD ShareSpace is a network-attached storage system designed for home office or small office applications. WD TV m! edia play! ers connect to a user�� television or home theater system and play digital movies, music and photos from an integrated hard drive, network hard drives, any of its WD-branded external hard drives, other USB mass storage devices or content services accessed over the Internet. WD Livewire, which enables consumers to use their existing electrical outlets to extend Internet connections throughout the home.

Consumer Electronics Products

WD AV family of hard drives is designed for use in products, such as DVRs and audio and video applications. WD AV drives deliver the characteristics CE manufacturers.

Enterprise Storage Products

Enterprise consists of hard drives for traditional enterprise and nearline storage applications, as well as solid-state drives for embedded applications. Its hard drive enterprise unit shipments were 10 million, for fiscal 2011. Its enterprise storage products include WD S25 hard drive, WD VelociRaptor, WD RE and WD SiliconDrive. WD S25 hard drive is designed for mission-critical enterprise server and storage applications, such as data centers and data arrays. WD VelociRaptor hard drive is designed for enterprise server and storage applications. This hard drive is also used in the high-end desktop PC market for applications including gaming, servers and advanced computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. WD RE family of hard drives is designed for nearline storage enterprise applications. WD SiliconDrive family of solid-state drives features fast read/write speeds in high capacities and is designed for embedded system OEM applications.

The Company competes with Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Intel Corporation, Micron Technology, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Seagate Technology, STEC, Inc. and Toshiba Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:
  • [By Jonas Elmerraji]

    NetApp isn't the only computer storage stock that's flush with cash. Western Digital (WDC) is another.

    Western Digital is the largest hard drive maker in the world, thanks to last year's acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. The firm's customers include enterprise IT departments and original equipment manufacturers as well as consumer technology retailers, who sell WDC's popular line of internal and external hard drives.

    The exact same growing demand for data that's boosting NTAP is providing tailwinds for Western Digital right now. On the consumer side, one of the biggest changes has been individuals' data needs. Today, more consumers than ever before carry around high-definition cell phone cameras capable of consuming gigabytes of storage capacity in minutes -- data that's generally backed up across multiple devices. As data needs continue to increase, WDC should continue to be one of the biggest beneficiaries.

    The transition to newer technologies like flash memory does pose some threats to WDC. But the firm is fighting back the best way. By using some of its $2.35 billion net cash position to acquire flash memory makers like Stec (STEC). The firm's hefty cash balance gives it the ability to ramp up its investments in flash to avoid falling behind as prices fall for the technology.

  • [By Alex Planes]

    Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC  ) reported earnings for the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year this afternoon. The hard-disk-drive leader generated $3.94 billion in revenue for the quarter ended in September, resulting in adjusted earnings of $2.10 per share, and both results topped Wall Street's expectations. Analysts had modeled $3.89 billion in revenue and $2.03 in adjusted EPS.

  • [By Rex Crum]

    Pandora Media Inc. rose (P) 3% to close at $32.44 a share; Western Digital Corp. (WDC) ended the day up by 3.3% at $85.65, Micron Technology Inc. (MU) rose 5% to $21.73 a share, and IBM Corp. (IBM) shares added almost 2% to end the day at $189.71.

  • [By Daniela Pylypczak]

    Western Digital (WDC) announced on Wednesday that its chief financial officer, Wolfgange Nickl, is resigning.

    Nickl’s resignation from WDC will be effective November 17, 2013, when he becomes the new CFO at ASML Holding N.V. in the Netherlands. Nickl has served as CFO at Western Digital since August of 2010; prior to that, he served in several other positions within WDC’s finance and operations divisions. Western Digital has stated that it is in the process of searching for a new CFO.

    Western Digital shares traded 1.15% higher during Wednesday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock is up 48.90%.

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