Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Slip; Kohl's Q3 Profit Misses Estimates

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.09 percent to 15,808.02 while the NASDAQ declined 0.22 percent to 3,956.84. The S&P also fell, dropping 0.04 percent to 1,781.27.

Top Headline
Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) reported an 18 percent drop in its third-quarter profit.

Kohl's quarterly profit declined to $177 million, or $0.81 per share, from a year-ago profit of $215 million, or $$0.91 per share.

Its revenue dropped to $4.44 billion from $4.49 billion. However, analysts were estimating earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $4.55 billion. Kohl's also lowered its full-year profit forecast to a range of $4.08 to $4.23 per share, versus its earlier forecast of $4.15 to $4.35 per share. It projects Q4 earnings of $1.59 to $1.74 per share.

Equities Trading UP
SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) shot up 10.25 percent to $59.45 after the company priced $54.425 million of Solar Asset Backed Notes. Baird upgraded the stock from Neutral to Outperform.

Shares of E-Commerce China Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) got a boost, shooting up 6.55 percent to $9.60 after the company reported upbeat Q3 earnings.

CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) was also up, gaining 7.28 percent to $38.59 after the company swung to a profit in the fourth quarter.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) were down 13.36 percent to $20.79 after the company posted weaker-than-expected fiscal first-quarter revenue and issued a weak outlook. Cisco also increased its share buyback program by $15 billion. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold.

Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) shares tumbled 7.35 percent to $53.98 after the company reported an 18 percent drop in its third-quarter profit and lowered its outlook.

NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) was down, falling 4.55 percent to $66.25 after the company posted its Q3 unaudited financial results. Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.75 percent to $93.18, while gold traded up 1.06 percent to $1,281.90.

Silver traded up 1.14 percent Thursday to $20.68, while copper fell 0.35 percent to $3.15.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index tumbled 0.37 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell 0.79 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX gained 0.67 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.59 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.30 percent.

Economics
US jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 339,000 in the week ended November 9. However, economists were projecting claims to drop to 335,000.

US productivity rose by an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the third quarter, versus economists' expectations for a 2.4 percent increase. Unit-labor costs declined by 0.6 percent.

The US trade deficit increased to $41.8 billion in September, versus a revised $38.7 billion in the prior month. However, economists were expecting the deficit to rise to $39.7 billion. The country's exports fell 0.2 percent to $188.9 billion, while imports climbed 1.2 percent to $230.7 billion.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills.

Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Futures Forex Global Econ #s Economics Hot Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

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

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Mulally staying at Ford - for now

  Is Ford only as good as Mulally? NEW YORK (CNNMoney) Ford CEO Alan Mulally tried Thursday to damp down reports he's preparing to leave the automaker to take the top job at Microsoft. But his denial doesn't necessarily rule out a move.

In a call with analysts to discuss Ford's strong third-quarter results, the very first question was about talk in the media that Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) wants Mulally to replace outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer. Mulally answered that his plans to stay at Ford until "at least 2014" haven't changed.

"I'm clearly excited and honored to continue to serve Ford," he said.

But when asked by a reporter if he had talked to Microsoft, he refused to answer the question, saying he would not comment on speculation. When asked what the chances were that he'd stay at Ford beyond 2014, all he would say was "our plan has not changed."

Ballmer, in announcing his retirement In August, said he would leave within the next 12 months. So Mulally's previously stated departure plan doesn't necessarily rule out his moving to the software maker.

Last year, when Ford disclosed Mulally's plans to stay through 2014, it named Mark Fields as president, a position that hadn't previously been filled. He is seen as the likely successor to the 68-year old Mulally.

Mulally has been Ford (F, Fortune 500) CEO since 2006, joining the company from the commercial aircraft unit of Boeing (BA, Fortune 500). He is widely credited with helping Ford avoid bankruptcy and the federal bailout that rivals General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler Group endured in 2009. Under his leadership, Ford recaptured the No. 2 spot in U.S. car sales from Japanese rival Toyota (TM).

Ford shares were higher in Thursday trading after it reported a record third-quarter pretax profit of $2.6 billion, up 19% from a year earlier. Revenue was up 12% on an increase in the number of vehicles sold worldwide.

The company was able to trim its ongoing losses in Europe and raise its earnings guidance. It did report a drop in net income, but that was due to severance costs from plant closings in Europe and a charge for a shift in white-collar pension plans.

JP Morgan Raises Legal Reserve (JPM)

JP Morgan Chase (JPM) announced on Monday that it has raised its litigation reserve by more than $1.5 billion in the third quarter.

According to the bank’s Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake “This addition to reserves covers a number of different matters, some of which you've been reading about. There's been a crescendo of activity in past weeks and we are reacting to that where it makes sense.” The “activity” Lake is referring to involves the potential legal claims and fees resulting of U.S. criminal investigations into the bank’s energy-trading and mortgage-backed securities business, as well several other issues.

5 Best Industrial Conglomerate Stocks To Own Right Now

JP Morgan also announced two new members on its board, as well as the expanded powers for lead director Lee R. Raymond to help enforce risk oversight.

JP Morgan shares traded 0.30% higher during Monday’s session. Year-to-date, the stock is up 17.69%.

Why Future Tax Rates Will Be Higher

Taxes are the fuel that keeps our government running. It's easy to grasp the concept that a larger government requires more taxes in order to operate. When our government began, those who served did so on a part-time basis. After meeting in Philadelphia  and various other places, they would return to their farms, businesses or other vocations. Because the representatives had to travel so far, and travel was so slow, it took quite a long time to draft the constitution and other important founding documents. Today, in stark contrast to the early days, political service has become a career, even to the point of "winning at all cost." In fact, politics has been perceived as a dirty game for decades. But I digress. Let's begin by taking a brief look at how the government was funded in the beginning.

In the early days of America very little was spent for public purposes. As a result, the need for taxation was low. The source of funds for government in the beginning was primarily from a "per-head" tax called a poll tax. Additional taxes were derived from the property tax and taxes on certain products. The forerunner of the income tax emerged in 1643 and was called a "faculty tax," in which taxes were paid on property and the ability of an individual to earn an income from commerce or a skilled trade. As the need for taxes rose, pressure from England grew and the phrase, "Taxation without representation is tyranny" became the mantra of independent thinkers in the 1760′s.

Fast forward to the 1900′s, specifically October 3, 1913, and we find the 16th Amendment which gave Congress the power to "Lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration." In other words, Congress could tax any income, without sharing with any state, and without regard to any survey or ballot or details. My friend, that's a pretty broad power! The income tax rate at that point was one percent on incomes above $3,000 (single) and $4,000 (married). In inflation adjusted terms, that equates to $67,000 and $90,000 in today's dollars. There was also a "super tax" which added an additional 6.0% tax on incomes above $500,000, making the top rate 7.0%. $500,000 in 1913 is the equivalent of over $11 million today.

From 1913, the top tax rate rose to 15% in 1916, to a whopping 67% the following year. In 1918, the rate peaked at 77%, before slowly declining to 73% in 1920. As most of us realize, the 1920′s were a major boom period in America. You might say it was a huge bubble which burst when the Great Depression hit. It should be noted that during the 1920′s income tax rates fell to a low of 25% in 1925, which helped fuel strong economic growth.

Taxes usually rise during periods of war, as was the case during WWII. In fact, the top marginal bracket hit 94% in 1945 and remained at or above 90% for the next 19 years, until President Kennedy got his wish for lower taxes in the early 1960′s.

History has proven that lower tax rates have a stimulating effect on the economy and higher taxes have the opposite result. I'm aware there are many detractors from this position, but again, the data has proven this over and over.

September is Stocks' Cruelest Month

The market is due for a correction. But even if it gets one, stocks should resume rallying later this year once the immediate crises are addressed, writes MoneyShow's Jim Jubak, also of Jubak's Picks.

Since 1971, September has been by far the worst month of the year for US stocks. The average September return on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX), from 1971 through 2012 is a loss of 0.52%, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

Considering that only three other months show an average loss of any size over that period, and that the second-worst loss is the 0.1% turned in by February, September sticks out like a very sore thumb. (October, feared as the month of crashes, shows an average return of 0.74% in that period. Not as good as December's 1.7% return, of course, but then December is the head of the pack.)

Now whether or not you believe in historical stock market seasonal patterns, the September data is a useful warning flag. If the numbers simply draw your attention to September and the likely trends this year, they've served an important function.

Because on projections of current news, September shapes up as a volatile month, with way more downside risk than upside potential. September sure looks like a month for taking less risk rather than more, for having more money on the sidelines rather than less, for thinking about protecting gains and principal rather than rolling the dice.

And that's especially the case because it is extremely likely that any fears that take stocks lower in September will have passed by October or November.

I think investors would like to have some cash on hand as we flip the calendar page to October, just in case September lives up to its downside potential and creates a bargain or two.

The immediate threat

So why do I think September has such downside potential? The Federal Reserve, for one, and the political parties occupying opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets on September 18, and at the top of its agenda is the matter of when to begin reducing the central bank's program of buying $85 billion a month in Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. And that's making the stock and bond markets nervous. The fear is that any reduction in the Fed's monthly purchase will cause long-term interest rates to move higher, suppressing US growth.

The Fed hasn't done a particularly effective job at allaying those fears because, in my opinion, it hasn't wanted to. Letting market fears push interest rates gradually higher and asset prices gradually lower would make an actual transition to a slower rate of purchasing—or to the eventual end of the entire program of buying—easier for the Federal Reserve, by taking some of the air out of asset prices over a longer period of time, rather than all at once. The Fed's repeated assertions that its decision will be based on the economic data has served to keep the market on edge, and that may be exactly what the Fed wants.

What's the Fed's read of the economic data? It's not exactly crystal clear, but I think the Fed is saying that the economy is strong enough that a reduction in purchases is likely, either in September or at the FOMC meeting in October.

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Insider trading: Where is the system lacking?

Let us first understand what exactly is insider trading. Insider trading is the trading of equity shares or other securities such as bonds or stock options by individuals with potential access to non-public information about the company. And insider trading is not limited to insiders only. This is very much conducted by the outsiders and that too, in more organized way. These outsiders glean non-public and price sensitive information with the help of insiders and trade on the same.

All this is very well known. Then, where is the system lacking to curb this illegal trading? It is not like India does not have regulation. Enforcement of prohibitions on insider trading has introduced long back in 1992 in India. The problem lies in proper prosecution. According to SEBI's annual report for 2010-11, the equity market regulator took up investigations in 28 insider trading cases and completed 15 during the year. In the case of insider trading, it is difficult to prosecute the guilty because the India regulator has not given enough teeth. Unlike USA, here Indian regulator does not have access to call records among other things. They cannot do wiretapping which is very crucial to make a case against guilty. Had Mr Rajat Gupta committed the crime of insider trading in India, he may have gone scot-free. In the US, prosecutors used details of telephone conversations and emails to convince jurors that Gupta had leaked boardroom secrets to his former friend, hedge fund manager Mr Raj Rajaratnam.

There are many steps that needs to be taken to curb insider trading. First, law need to recognize insider trading as a criminal activity. Civil prosecution only leads to monetary penalties. Again here, Mr Rajat Gupta could have escaped of 25 years jail sentence even after proper prosecution. Hence, right policies with strong prosecution system are need of the hour. This would create deterrent for all involved in insider trading. On the part of company's management , they should publish all price sensitive data as earliest possible. They should not give preferential access to more data such as analyst's presentation to analysts or other such people before publishing it in public domain.

A concerted effort from policy makers, regulators as well as company's management can only curb insider trading in India. Hope, India would take one lesson or two from the famous case of Mr Rajat Gupta.

Equitymaster.com is India`s leading independent equity research initiative

What Stocks Would Phil Fisher Buy Today?

Someone who reads my articles sent me this question:

Hi Geoff,

…Among the companies that you know well, which ones do you think would interest Phil Fisher today?

Sylvain

Wow. That's a hard question. It's a good question. But a hard one to answer. I know what companies I know well. And I think I know what companies would interest Phil Fisher. The problem is finding where those two lists overlap.

So – first of all – Phil Fisher was not concerned with price. I'm not saying he would've bought a dot-com company at the height of the bubble. But I am saying he didn't worry about price. If a stock had a P/E of 14 or 40, he might still be interested. I'm not interested in a stock with a P/E of 40.

Someone asked me the other day if I'd ever bought a stock with a P/E over 20. I'm not sure I have. I mean – I'm sure I have technically bought a stock with a P/E over 20. Because I've bought stocks in years where they had almost no earnings. The way math works, it's easy to get very big price ratios if you have a denominator close to zero. So when a company is basically just breaking even in a bad year – the P/E ratio could be astronomical. But I'm sure that's not what he meant. The question I think he was asking was whether I'd ever paid 20 times a company's record earnings.

I don't think so.

No. I'm pretty sure I've never paid 20 times a company's all-time high earnings. I think I'd remember doing that.

Well Phil Fisher was different. He would gladly pay 20 times earnings for the right company. For Phil Fisher, the right company was a fast grower.

Fisher was also very focused on a company's organization. Not just competitive advantages like Warren Buffett. But the actual people who worked at the company.

Hot Tech Stocks To Buy Right Now

And while Buffett is interested in per share profit growth – whe! rever it comes from – Fisher was a much bigger believer in looking for organic sales growth. Not just growth through buybacks.

I tend to be much more of a Buffett investor than a Fisher investor. I am probably happiest buying a somewhat slower growing company with a lower price than a faster growing company with a higher price.

In theory, this isn't very logical. Let's look at how many earnings $100 of my capital would buy at two different companies.

First is Coach (COH). Coach costs $74.06 a share. So $100 will buy you 1.35 shares of Coach. Coach has $3.25 in earnings per share. So, 1.35 shares would deliver $4.39 in earnings. We can think of $4.39 as the amount of present earnings your $100 can buy in Coach stock.

Now let's look at Dun & Bradstreet (DNB). Dun & Bradstreet costs $80.27 a share. So $100 will buy you 1.25 shares of Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet has $5.29 in earnings per share. So, 1.25 shares would deliver $6.61 a share in earnings. We can think of $6.61 a share in earnings as the amount of present earnings your $100 can buy you in Dun & Bradstreet stock.

Coach grew revenue per share 20% over the last five years. While Dun & Bradstreet grew revenue per share 9% a year over the last five years.

Let's imagine – just for the sake of argument – what would happen if Dun & Bradstreet and Coach both grew their earnings for the next five years at the same pace they grew them over the last five years.

This is how much earnings my same $100 would buy in each stock:

	Coach (COH)	Dun & Bradstreet (DNB)
Today	$4.39	$6.61
2012	$5.27	$7.20
2013	$6.32	$7.85
2014	$7.59	$8.56
2015	$9.11	$9.33
2016	$10.93	$10.17

In four years, my $100 investment in Coach would ! be earnin! g nearly the same amount per year as my $100 investment in Dun & Bradstreet. And in five years, Coach's earnings would pass Dun & Bradstreet's earnings.

If Coach's growth prospects still looked good in five years, the stock might have a P/E of 20. Meanwhile, Dun & Bradstreet's growth might still be barely inching along. Actual sales growth at DNB is only around 3% a year. The per share growth is due to constant share buybacks. Check out Dun & Bradstreet's 10-year financial summary for evidence of the mammoth stock buyback they've done over the last decade. Shares outstanding have declined almost 40%.

Anyway, if DNB's organic sales growth was around 3% or so five years from now – the stock could easily have a P/E of 12. So, you could certainly imagine a scenario five years from now where Coach's price per share is $219 ($10.93 * 20) while Dun & Bradstreet's stock price is only $122 ($10.17 * 12).

I can't argue with that. It's certainly possible. Personally, I'm not at all sure a P/E of 12 makes sense for Dun & Bradstreet under any circumstances. If they simply diverted all the cash they use to buy back shares to paying out dividends instead – it's unlikely even a no-growth stock would have a dividend yield of 8%. This illustrates the lunacy of focusing on growth apart from earnings retention. You can't have it both ways. Either DNB is a 9% grower – which means you count the buybacks – or DNB is a 3% grower, but it pays out all its earnings in dividends.

I'm saying that the high quality of DNB's earnings – they entirely in the form of free cash flow – and the stable nature of their wide moat business means the stock should sell for 15 times earnings even when it's barely growing. I believe that.

What do I believe about Coach? It's hard to say. I don't believe – or at least I'm not willing to act on my belief – that Coach will grow its earnings by 20% a year over the next five years. It could. But even if it does accomp! lish that! the market's view of growth from that point on will be key.

A simple way of looking at this is to see that Coach is trading at a multiple that's around two times Dun & Bradstreet's multiple. What are the chances Coach's multiple will contract from the roughly 24 times earnings range to the roughly 16 times earnings range? And what is the chance that DNB's multiple will expand from around 12 times earnings to around 16 times earnings?

Both of those events are real possibilities. And I tend to see the investment world in that way. I think it's very possible $100 invested in Coach and $100 invested in DNB will produce similar amount of earnings five years from now – and those earnings may be valued in similar ways.

Coach's growth could falter before the five years is up. Or Coach could so wow investors in terms of its truly long-term growth prospects that the stock still fetches a P/E of 20 to 25 half a decade from now.

It would be hard for me to choose between those two stocks. Quantitatively it would be impossible. If forced to choose, I'm sure I'd pick Dun & Bradstreet. But that's a qualitative decision. I think I understand DNB's business – its competitive advantage – better than I understand Coach. That would be the only reason for picking DNB over Coach. I can't argue mathematically that Coach is an inferior stock at this price. In fact – by the numbers – Coach looks absolutely wonderful.

That's how I look at stocks. But that's not how Phil Fisher looked at stocks.

I don't think Phil Fisher would actually be attracted to either Dun & Bradstreet or Coach. I think he would consider both stocks outside of his circle of competence. In one of his books, he explains how he personally focused on manufacturing businesses with a significant technical aspect. Something scientific. That was his niche. Fisher didn't argue that his general approach couldn't be applied to food companies, retailers, media businesses, etc. He just didn! 't inve! st in those companies himself.

I'm sure Fisher would consider commercial databases and luxury goods way outside his circle of competence. So, Fisher's approach might work for those stocks. But they wouldn't be stocks he'd buy personally.

Here are some stocks Phil Fisher might be interested in:

· Waters (WAT)

· Balchem (BCPC)

· Idexx (IDXX)

· II-VI (IIVI)

· Mesa Laboratories (MLAB)

· Masimo (MASI)

I don't know most of those companies very well. I probably know Waters the best out of that group.

Obviously, there are companies outside of Phil Fisher's area of focus – manufacturing with technical elements – that fit many of his principles.

Among really high profile companies, the three that stand out are:

1. Amazon (AMZN)

2. Netflix (NFLX)

3. Wells Fargo (WFC)

Of those 3, Amazon stands out the most. Jeff Bezos often seems to be channeling Phil Fisher. And I imagine that if Fisher were ever interested in a retailer it would be a retailer with Amazon's attitude about technology, customers, growth, and the long-term. More than anything though it's Amazon's constant internal push to develop new sales and especially new ways to serve existing customers without being prompted by outside forces that makes me think it's a company Phil Fisher would be very interested in.

Fisher liked companies that had a philosophy of growth. Something internal to the organization that caused it to seek ways to grow sales, win new customers, develop new products. Fisher obviously wanted a great organization in an industry with great long-term prospects. But I think a lot of growth investors focus more on the latter issue than Fisher would. I know they don't focus enough on the first issue. Fisher wanted a great organization first and foremost.

I'm not sure any of the stocks I've mentioned in this article are necessarily good buys. The one exception is Wells Fargo. I'm never comfortabl! e calling! a bank entirely safe. So I'm less sure about suggesting any financial stock as a good buy than I am about stocks in most industries. But if you look at what Wells Fargo has achieved and what they are likely to achieve over the next ten years or so and then consider the price you are paying for the stock today – I think it's pretty hard to come up with reasonable assumptions that tell you Wells Fargo is too expensive right now. Maybe you don't feel the same way I do about the organization and the opportunities in cross-selling products to existing customers. That's fine. But if I had to pick one stock I mentioned here as a stock worth investigating as a long-term buy – and long-term is the only kind of buy Phil Fisher believed in – it's Wells Fargo.

Waters is not especially cheap. But that's also an interesting company. It might be a bit slow growth – a lot of the EPS growth you see there is from buybacks – for Phil Fisher's taste. But it seems like a perfectly good company to me.

There is one stock in one industry that is pretty far afield from the kind of companies Phil Fisher actually invested in during his lifetime that I'm definitely interested in and I actually think lines up pretty well with a bunch of Fisher's principles.

That stock is DreamWorks Animation (DWA).

I won't try to defend DreamWorks as a Phil Fisher stock. I'm sure a lot of you are scratching your heads right now about that name and what it has to do with Phil Fisher. If you are – I'd suggest learning more about DreamWorks.

It's no use reading the financials. This is a movie studio. It makes a couple movies a year. You won't find a pattern in the summary financial data.

But I think if you learn about the management, organization, employees, their attitude toward technology and growth and so on – I think you'll find DreamWorks to be surprisingly in sync with Fisher's philosophy.

Which brings me to my most important point. Just about all the sto! cks I tal! ked about are pretty big stocks. Because people think of Fisher as being synonymous with world class quality they tend to look at bigger stocks than Fisher himself usually did.

The important thing is taking Phil Fisher's philosophy and applying it to the industries you know best. It's Fisher's general approach that matters. Not necessarily his focus on any one specific industry.

And try to apply Fisher's ideas to the smallest stocks you can find. Everyone is looking for high-quality companies with good long-term growth prospects among the biggest companies out there.

The best place to apply Fisher's ideas is somewhere that's considered highly speculative. If other investors are buying and selling some stocks without regard to the quality of the businesses – that's the place you'll get the most use out of Fisher's ideas.

But the most important part of Fisher's philosophy is the holding. You need to buy a stock with the intent of holding it forever. You need to wait 3 years before you'll know if the stock is panning out.

I'm serious about the 3 year part. Fisher mentions 3 years as the amount of time you should wait if you like a company, buy its stock, and then watch its stock go nowhere. He says you should wait 3 years before you call it quits.

That's simple advice. But it's probably the part people have the hardest following.

Ask Geoff a Question About Phil Fisher

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014

After President Obama delivered his latest blueprint on climate change yesterday, utilities responded with their own two cents. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an association of shareholder-owned electric companies, issued a statement reflecting on the president's plans.

EEI President Tom Kuhn noted that, while electric utilities both understand�and support the importance of addressing climate change, electric companies want to ensure that carbon-cutting policies focused on existing power plants "contain achievable compliance limits and deadlines, minimize costs to customers, and are consistent with the industry's ongoing investments to transition to a cleaner generating fleet and enhanced electric grid."

To do this properly, Kuhn emphasized: "It is also critical that fuel diversity and support for clean energy technologies be maintained, not hindered." Even as the EEI stressed support, it noted that utilities have already made significant advancements. Carbon dioxide emissions currently clock in 15% below 2005 levels, it said, with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions are down 75% since 1990.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Camino Minerals Corporation (COR.V)

Camino Minerals Corporation, an exploration stage company, engages in the exploration and development of mineral properties in Mexico. The company focuses on precious and base metal projects. It holds 100% interests in the El Rincon gold project, which comprises 1 mineral claim covering an area of 12,946 hectares, located to the northeast of the city of Durango; and the Maijoma claim group that includes three contiguous claim groups, such as Maijoma, Aqua Loca/Los Volcanes, and El Alamo covering an area of 83,985 hectares and is located in southeast of Ojinaga in northeast Chihuahua. The company also has 100% interests in the Mecatona gold prospect, which consists of 7 mineral claims covering an area of 5,300 hectares and is located to the south of the city of Parral; and the Rodeo gold project, which comprises two claims covering an area of 13,099 hectares, located to the north of the city of Durango. Camino Minerals Corporation is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Cogent Communications Group Inc.(CCOI)

Cogent Communications Group, Inc. provides high-speed Internet access, Internet Protocol, and communications services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers, and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe, and Japan. It offers on-net services to bandwidth-intensive users, such as universities, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, and commercial content providers; and multi-tenant office buildings, including law firms, financial services firms, advertising and marketing firms, and other professional services businesses. The company also provides its on-net services in carrier-neutral colocation facilities, Cogent controlled data centers, and single-tenant office buildings. In addition, it offers off-net services to businesses that are connected to its network primarily by means of last mile access service lines obtained from other carriers primarily in the form of p oint-to-point TDM, POS, SDH, and/or carrier ethernet circuits. Further, the company provides voice services; and Internet connectivity to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to the company?s network. Additionally, it operates 43 data centers that allow customers to co-locate their equipment and access its network. Cogent Communications Group, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lee Jackson]

  Cogent Communications Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CCOI) provides high-speed Internet access, Internet protocol (IP) and communications services, primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers and other bandwidth-intensive organizations in North America, Europe and Japan. The consensus price target for the stock is $35. Investors receive a 1.7% dividend. Cogent closed Thursday at $32.12.

• [By The GeoTeam]

  We will get more into the plain English version of what GTT does later. GTT's closest comparative publicly traded company is Cogent Communications Group, Inc. (CCOI). Cogent and Global Telecom are forecast to reach revenues of $400 million and $200 million in 2014, respectively.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  It won't require any convincing arguments for investors in�Cogent Communications� (NASDAQ: CCOI  ) �to accept the new dividend payment the multinational Tier 1 ISP will pay for the second quarter of 2013.

Top High Tech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SAI Global Ltd(SAI.AX)

SAI Global Limited engages in providing information services and solutions for managing risk, achieving compliance, and driving business enhancement worldwide. The company?s Information Services segment distributes technical and business information, such as standards, legislation, and other technical information; provides internally developed intellectual property, including bibliographic databases and property certificates; and provides conveyancing, lending, and other workflow solutions. Its Compliance Services segment offers advisory services; newsfeeds, alerts, and databases covering key compliance and regulatory topics; governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solutions that catalogue, monitor, update, notify, and manage a company?s operational GRC needs; a library of Web-based learning and awareness solutions, supported by a learning management system providing audit and compliance learning management; and whistleblower and related case management and incident repor ting services. The company?s Assurance Services segment provides assessing system and product conformity to international and locally based standards; a suite of services across the food value chain, from agricultural production through to the point of sale or service for managing risks within the supply chain and enhancing the quality, safety, and security of food products; tools for enhancing business processes; and standards related training and business enhancement solutions. SAI Global Limited was founded in 1922 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Heartland Payment Systems Inc. (HPY)

Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. provides bankcard payment processing services in the United States and Canada. It facilitates the exchange of information and funds between merchants and cardholder�s financial institutions; and offers end-to-end electronic payment processing services, including merchant set-up and training, transaction authorization and electronic draft capture, clearing and settlement, merchant accounting, merchant assistance and support, and risk management to merchants. The company also provides other merchant services comprising payroll processing, gift and loyalty programs, and prepaid and stored-value solutions; paper check processing; payroll and related tax filing services; and secure point-of-sale solutions, as well as sells and rents point-of-sale devices and supplies. In addition, it develops, manufactures, sells, services, and maintains computer software to facilitate accounting and management functions of food service operations of K to 12 sch ools. The company markets its bankcard payment processing services directly to small and mid-sized merchants, and national and mid-tier merchants. Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY  ) is set to be an enthusiastic buyer of its own shares. The company's board has authorized a fresh stock repurchase program to the tune of $75 million. The move is effective immediately, and its term is open-ended.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Sembcorp Marine Ltd (S51.SI)

Sembcorp Marine Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the marine and offshore engineering business primarily in Singapore, rest of Asia, and Europe. It offers ship repair services to tankers of various sizes, including mid-sized tankers, very large crude carriers, and ultra large crude carriers; and repairs chemical tankers, container vessels, passenger ships, LNG and LPG gas carriers, dredgers, bulk carriers, derrick barges, and navy vessels. The company also designs and constructs product tankers of about 11,500 deadweight tones (dwt); container carriers of about 1,078 TEU to 2,600 TEU; tankers of about 90,000 dwt; ocean-going tugs; ice-class chemical tankers; multi-purpose cargo vessels; ro-ro vessels; bulk carriers; and cable laying and repair vessels. In addition, it engages in the conversion of tankers to floating production storage and floating storage offloading units; reconstruction of derrick/crane semi-submersible to floating production units; and conv ersion of dynamic positioning pipe-laying and construction barge, as well as repair and upgrading of jack-up drilling rigs, and upgrading of semi-submersible rigs for deep-water drilling. The company�s specialized ship conversion services include the conversion of tankers to lightering vessels, cargo vessels to livestock carriers, cargo vessels to container ships, power barge conversions, and the jumboisation and dejumboisation of vessels. Further, it designs and builds deep drilling offshore jack-up rigs and semi-submersible rigs; and engages in the engineering, procurement, construction, transportation, installation, offshore hook-up, and commissioning of offshore production platforms and floating production facilities for the oil and gas industries. The company was formerly known as Jurong Shipyard Ltd. and changed its name to Sembcorp Marine Ltd. in 2000. The company was incorporated in 1963 and is based in Singapore. Sembcorp Marine Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sembcorp Ind ustries Ltd.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Alliance Resource Partners L.P.(ARLP)

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. engages in the production and marketing of coal for utilities and industrial users in the United States. It operates nine underground mining complexes, which offer low, medium, and high-sulfur coal. The company also leases land and operates a coal loading terminal on the Ohio River at Mt. Vernon, Indiana; and purchases and resells coal. In addition, the company provides mine products and services comprising design and installation of underground mine hoists for transporting employees and materials in and out of mines; design of systems for automating and controlling various aspects of industrial and mining environments; and design and sale of mine safety equipment, such as its miner and equipment tracking, and proximity detection systems. Further, it offers ash and scrubber sludge removal, coal yard maintenance, and arranging alternate transportation services. As of December 31, 2010, the company had approximately 697.4 million tons of coal reserves in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Alliance Resource Management GP, LLC serves as the general partner of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. The company was founded in 1971 and is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  Keep in mind that some companies�deserve�their current valuations. Coal miner Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP  ) , which is run as a master limited partnership, reported yet another record profit in the first quarter and boosted its quarterly payout yet again. By locking in long-term contracts, Alliance Resource has nearly eliminated its exposure to currently weak coal prices and is able to count on steady and growing cash flow.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP  ) has bumped its quarterly dividend slightly higher. For its Q1, the company will distribute $1.13 per unit on May 15 to shareholders of record as of May 8.�That amount is 2% more than Alliance Resource's preceding distribution, which was handed out in early February, and totaled $1.1075. Prior to that, the partnership paid $1.085 per unit.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  The basic materials sector is highly cyclical. It relies on a strong economy to create demand for its raw materials. Since most of its products are considered to be commodities, the sector is sensitive to supply and demand fluctuations, with end-users able to substitute based on price.
  
  Historically, yields in this sector have been on the lower end of the scale. However, with the increased demand for certain raw materials, the stocks in this sector are beginning to see higher yields with increased profitability. In addition, depressed prices on some companies have also boosted yields.
  
  This week, I screened my dividend growth stocks database for Basic Materials companies with a yield above 2.0% and that have increased their dividends for at least 10 consecutive years. The results are presented below:
  
  RPM International Inc. (RPM) makes specialty coatings and products for structural waterproofing and corrosion control, as well as products for the consumer, do-it-yourself and hobby markets. The company has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1969 and has increased its dividend payments for 40 consecutive years. Yield: 2.3%
  
  Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (APD) is a major producer of industrial gases and electronics and specialty chemicals also has interests in environmental and energy-related businesses. Air Products and Chemicals Inc. is a major producer of industrial gases and electronics and specialty chemicals also has interests in environmental and energy-related businesses. Yield: 2.5%
  
  Nucor Corporation (NUE) is the largest minimill steelmaker in the U.S., Nucor has one of the most diverse product lines of any steelmaker in the Americas. Nucor Corporation is the largest minimill steelmaker in the U.S., Nucor has one of the most diverse product lines of any steelmaker in the Americas. Yield: 2.7%
  
  Alliance Resource Partners LP (ARLP) produces and markets coal primarily to utilities and industr

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  For example, the company has pointed out repeatedly that it's no longer interested in growing its coal business either organically or by way of acquisition. Starting next year, the company will only spend $300 million-$350 million per year in maintenance capital as it turns the coal business into harvest mode. In my opinion, that makes it a great candidate for an MLP structure similar to Alliance Resources (NASDAQ: ARLP  ) . MLPs tend to be valued higher by the marketplace because of the steady income produced; Alliance, for example, currently yields 6%. CONSOL could use the copious cash flows from coal to produce a nice income vehicle if it structured its coal business as an MLP.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (EW)

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies to treat structural heart disease and critically ill patients worldwide. The company offers surgical heart valve therapy products, such as tissue heart valves and repair products, which are used to replace or repair a patient�s diseased or defective heart valve; and produces pericardial and porcine valves. Its surgical heart valve therapy products include Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT pericardial valve that comprise PERIMOUNT Magna Ease valves for aortic and mitral replacement; ThruPort systems that enable minimal incision valve surgery; and protection cannulae used during cardiac surgery in venous drainage, aortic perfusion, venting, and cardioplegia delivery. The company also provides transcatheter heart valves portfolio that includes technologies designed to treat heart valve disease using catheter-based approaches, as well as critical care products, such as hemodynamic monitoring systems to measure a p atient�s heart function in surgical and intensive care settings; Swan-Ganz line of pulmonary artery catheters and PreSep continuous venous oximetry catheters for measuring central venous oxygen saturation; VolumeView sensor-catheters; FloTrac continuous cardiac output monitoring system, a minimally invasive cardiac monitoring technology for goal-directed fluid optimization; and EV1000 clinical monitoring platform, which displays a patient's physiologic status. Its critical care products also include disposable pressure monitoring devices and closed blood sampling systems to help protect both patients and clinicians from the risk of infection; and products used to treat endolumenal occlusive disease, including balloon-tipped, catheter-based embolectomy products, surgical clips, and clamps. The company distributes its products through direct sales force and independent distributors. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Irvine, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Keith Speights]

  Something beaten down
  While J&J and Sarepta have enjoyed success so far in 2013, that's not the case for Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW  ) . Shares of the medical device company are down 29% year-to-date. However, I suspect that this beaten-down stock remains a good investing option.

• [By Sean Williams]

  Finally, heart valve product maker Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW  ) rose an index-best 2.3% following positive comments made by Leerink Swann. On Wednesday, Edwards Lifesciences received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration regarding the company's execution of its quality systems within its cardiac surgery systems segment. Edwards commented that it did not expect the letter to have a material impact on its 2013 earnings results. Research firm Leerink Swann further noted yesterday that the letter is unrelated to its lead device, Sapien, and will not affect the company's growth prospects. While certainly better news, Edwards is still valued at 18 times next year's earnings, and badly missed estimates last quarter, which would be enough to keep me planted on the sidelines.

• [By Dan Carroll]

  Why is this important? Medtronic's battling with Edwards Lifesciences's (NYSE: EW  ) Sapien heart valve for market share in Europe, and upstarts Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX  ) and St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ  ) are looking to punch into the European industry with their Lotus and Portico valves, respectively. Medtronic's valve-in-valve approval gives the company a leg up on its competition, but is it enough to entrench this firm as a leader in the industry? Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll and health-care analyst Max Macaluso discuss what you need to know below.

Top Clean Energy Companies For 2014: Parlux Fragrances Inc.(PARL)

Parlux Fragrances, Inc. engages in the creation, design, manufacture, distribution, and sale of fragrances and beauty related products. The company offers body lotions, creams, shower gels, deodorants, soaps, and dusting powders. It also manufactures and distributes watches, handbags, purses, small leather goods, cosmetics, and sunglasses. It offers products under Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Rihanna, Queen Latifah, Marc Ecko, Josie Natori, Nicole Miller, Kanye West, and Vince Camuto names on a licensee basis. The company markets its products primarily through specialty stores, national department stores, and perfumeries primarily in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Russia. Parlux Fragrances, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Mid-Afternoon Market Update: Markets Continue Rally as Tesla Guidance Lifts Stock

Toward the end of trading Tuesday, the Dow traded up 0.63 percent to 16,361.14 while the NASDAQ surged 1.66 percent to 4,181.62. The S&P also rose, gaining 1.05 percent to 1,838.09.

Top Headline
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) reported a 7% drop in its fourth-quarter profit.

J.P. Morgan's quarterly profit declined to $5.3 billion, or $1.30 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $5.7 billion, or $1.39 per share. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.40 per share.

Its revenue dropped 1% to $24.1 billion, versus $24.4 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $1.32 per share on revenue of $23.81billion. J.P. Morgan's mortgage originations tumbled 54% y/y to $23.3 billion, while investment banking net income slipped 57%.

Equities Trading UP
Shares of Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) were on the rise Tuesday afternoon, gaining 15.47 percent to $161.10 after the company issued some positive fourth quarter guidance at the Detroit Autoshow, leading to an upgrade from Baird.

VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY) shot up 5.00 percent to $28.77 after JP Morgan upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was also up, gaining 2.41 percent to $1,150.97 after the company announced its plans to acquire Nest Labs for $3.2 billion. Analysts at Wells Fargo upgraded Google from Market Perform to Outperform.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of GameStop (NYSE: GME) were down 20.62 percent to $36.17 after the company cut its profit outlook for the holiday quarter.

Intercept Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ICPT) was also down, falling 26.36 percent to $268.60 after a Wall Street Journal article Friday reported that the NIH had said patient's of the company's drug had more bad cholesterol than when they had started treatment.

Stratasys (NASDAQ: SSYS) was down, falling 8.83 percent to $118.51 after the company issued downbeat FY14 earnings outlook.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded up 0.75 percent to $92.49, while gold traded down 0.70 percent to $1,242.40.

Silver traded down 1.05 percent Tuesday to $20.17, while copper fell 0.42 percent to $3.33.

Eurozone
European shares were mostly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.06 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 0.17 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX climbed 0.23 percent and the French CAC 40 rose 0.26 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.16 percent.

Economics
The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose to 93.90 in December, versus a prior reading of 92.50. However, economists were expecting a reading of 93.10.

The ICSC-Goldman Sachs store sales index dropped 1% in the week ended Saturday versus the earlier week.

U.S. retail sales increased 0.2% in December, versus economists' estimates for a 0.1% gain.

The import price index came in unchanged in December, while the export index climbed 0.4% in the month.

The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index declined 0.3% in the first week of January versus December.

U.S. business inventories rose 0.40% in November, versus economists' expectations for a 0.30% gain.

Posted-In: Earnings News Guidance Eurozone Commodities Forex Global Econ #s Economics Intraday Update Markets Movers Tech

(c) 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Buy For 2014

Small cap stocks Muscle Warfare International (OTCMKTS: MWAR), Portlogic Systems Inc (OTCMKTS: PGSY) and Sterling Consolidated Corp (OTCBB: STCC) were all the subject of a few paid promotions as recently as last week but they sure did not start the new week out right because all were sinking on Monday. So are these small cap stocks that are either the subject of promotions or investor awareness campaigns hot or not? Here is a quick reality check:

Muscle Warfare International (OTCMKTS: MWAR) Has Exciting Plans

Small cap Muscle Warfare International researches, evaluates and acquires profitable private firms in the business segments of sports nutrition, energy and business services for the benefit of our shareholders. On Monday, Muscle Warfare International sank 29.17% to $0.0119 for a market cap of $4,200 plus MWAR is up 11,800% since the start of the year and up 19% over the past five years according to Google Finance.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Buy For 2014: China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited(CNR)

China Metro-Rural Holdings Limited, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the development and operation of agricultural logistics and trade centers in northeast China. It also involves in purchasing, processing, assembling, merchandising, and distributing pearls and jewelry products. The company markets its pearls and jewelry products to wholesale distributors and mass merchandisers in Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and other parts of Asia. In addition, it develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial properties in Hong Kong and the People?s Republic of China. The company is based in Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Brennan]

  Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) added 0.9 percent to C$104.93 and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. rose 1.7 percent to C$131.73.

  Niko Resources surged 3.4 percent to $8.64 after the company entered an agreement for a $60 million loan that will be funded by a group of institutional investors. Net proceeds from the loan will be used to fund working capital requirements.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Buy For 2014: Panera Bread Company(PNRA)

Panera Bread Company, together with its subsidiaries, owns, operates, and franchises retail bakery-cafes in the United States and Canada. Its bakery-cafes offer fresh baked goods, sandwiches, soups, salads, custom roasted coffees, and other complementary products, as well as provide catering services. The company also manufactures and supplies dough and other products to company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes. As of March 29, 2011, it owned and franchised 1,467 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread, Saint Louis Bread Co., and Paradise Bakery & Cafe names. The company was founded in 1981 and is based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  One key area for improvement, though, is for Starbucks to address a long-standing problem: food. Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) , which is quickly shaping up to be a rival for Starbucks, has focused on high-quality food offerings to deliver its cafe experience. So far, Starbucks hasn't fully taken advantage of its recent purchase of the La Boulange bakery line, but if it can finally expand into combining food and beverage more extensively, it could provide a new source of growth both from existing customers and with new locations.

• [By Andrew Marder]

  This morning, Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA  ) had one of those stock price charts where it appears as though the apocalypse came along, and the market just disappeared. The weak earnings report that the company released yesterday sent the shares down almost 7% overnight, after a 2% drop late in trading on Tuesday. Panera now trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.7, pulling it closer to its competitors.

Top 5 Bank Stocks To Buy Right Now: Voyager Oil & Gas Inc.(VOG)

Voyager Oil & Gas, Inc. engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas in the United States. It primarily focuses on oil shale resource prospects in Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. As of May 17, 2011, the company controlled approximately 141,500 net acres in the five primary prospect areas comprising 28,000 net acres targeting the Bakken/Three Forks in North Dakota and Montana; 14,200 net acres targeting the Niobrara formation in Colorado and Wyoming; 800 net acres targeting a Red River prospect in Montana; 33,500 net acres in a joint venture targeting the Heath Shale formation in Musselshell, Petroleum, Garfield, and Fergus counties of Montana; and 65,000 net acres in a joint venture in the Tiger Ridge gas field in Blaine, Hill, and Chouteau counties of Montana. It supplies energy and fuel for industrial, commercial, and individual consumers. The company is based in Billings, Montana.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Buy For 2014: Hot Topic Inc.(HOTT)

Hot Topic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a mall- and Web-based specialty retailer in the United States. The company operates Hot Topic and Torrid store concepts, as well as an e-space music discovery concept, ShockHound. Its Hot Topic stores sell music/pop culture-licensed merchandise, including tee shirts, hats, posters, stickers, patches, postcards, books, novelty accessories, CDs, and DVDs; and music/pop culture-influenced merchandise comprising women?s and men?s apparel and accessories, such as woven and knit tops, skirts, pants, shorts, jackets, shoes, costume jewelry, body jewelry, sunglasses, cosmetics, leather accessories, and gift items for young men and women primarily between the ages of 12 and 22. The company?s Torrid stores sells casual and dressy jeans and pants, fashion and novelty tops, sweaters, skirts, jackets, dresses, hosiery, shoes, intimate apparel, and fashion accessories for various lifestyles for plus-size females primarily betw een the ages of 15 and 29. As of July 30, 2011, it operated 636 Hot Topic stores in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada; 145 Torrid stores; and Internet stores, hottopic.com and torrid.com. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in City of Industry, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marshall Hargrave]

  In May True Religion (TRGL) announced a buyout offer from TowerBrook Capital for $826 million. Also in May, Rue21 decided to sell itself to Apax Partners for $2.2 billion. Before that, in March, Hot Topic (HOTT) announced that Sycamore Partners was buying out it out for $600 million.

Top 5 Small Cap Companies To Buy For 2014: OmniVision Technologies Inc.(OVTI)

OmniVision Technologies, Inc. designs, develops, and markets semiconductor image-sensor devices. The company offers CameraChip image sensors, which are single-chip solutions that integrate various functions, such as image capture, image processing, color processing, signal conversion, and output of a processed image or video stream for use in various consumer and commercial mass-market applications; and CameraCube imaging devices that are image sensors with integrated wafer-level optics. It also provides companion chips used to connect its image sensors to various interfaces, including the universal serial bus and other industry standard interfaces; and companion digital signal processors that perform compression in standardized still photo and digital video formats. In addition, the company designs and develops software drivers for Linux, Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows, as well as for embedded operating systems, such as Blackberry OS, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows CE, Windows Embedded, and Windows Mobile. Its products are used in mobile phones, notebooks, Webcams, digital still and video cameras, commercial and security and surveillance, and automotive and medical applications, as well as in entertainment devices. The company sells its products directly to original equipment manufacturers and value added resellers, as well as indirectly through distributors worldwide. OmniVision Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is based in Santa Clara, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Alex Planes]

  Investors love stocks that consistently beat the Street without getting ahead of their fundamentals and risking a meltdown. The best stocks offer sustainable market-beating gains, with robust and improving financial metrics that support strong price growth. Does OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) fit the bill? Let's take a look at what its recent results tell us about its potential for future gains.

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  Shares of OmniVision (OVTI) �fell 13% to $13.89 on heavy volume after the company said it expects adjusted fiscal third-quarter earnings of 28 cents to 44 cents a share on revenue of $310 million to $340 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect earnings of 43 cents a share on revenue of $399.5 million.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  But if you expand your view of the market, you'll find plenty of big movers and more interesting goings-on. OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) is the big winner this afternoon, soaring more than 19% in the wake of last night's positive earnings report. OmniVision said its cost-reduction strategy had started to bear fruit, revealing a combination of favorable results for its most recent quarter and expectation-beating guidance for the current quarter. In the long run, OmniVision has to demonstrate its ability to keep its image-sensor chips in the most popular smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. So far, though, investors are content with the growth they've seen.

• [By Evan Niu, CFA]

  STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM  ) and OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI  ) are the two camera suppliers, and HTC is reportedly no longer considered a "tier one" manufacturer so it doesn't get priority any more. That implies that one of these image sensor specialists was giving HTC the cold shoulder in favor of bigger names.

Three Good Reasons to Be Cautious on Stocks

 As the stock market rallies to new all-time highs and the cheerleaders on the financial networks urge investors to "get in while the getting is good," three charts suggest caution...    First is the Volatility Index (the "VIX")...     The VIX is a measure of investor fear, and it closed Friday near its lowest level of 2013. Investors are complacent. They're not fearful of an impending market decline.   From a contrarian point of view, a low VIX is a bad sign for the market. Periods of low volatility are always followed by periods of high volatility and vice versa. So this chart is one reason to be cautious for the short term.    The Nasdaq Summation Index (the "NASI") gives us a reason to be cautious for the intermediate term...     The NASI is a momentum indicator that helps point out overbought and oversold conditions on the Nasdaq stock market. As you can see from the chart, the NASI rallied to its highest level of the year last week. It's well into "nosebleed overbought" territory. Stocks are more overbought now than they were in June, just before we got hit with a fast 7% selloff.   Also, notice that the NASI hasn't been below the "0" line all year. This is unusual. The NASI usually spends about half its time above zero and half its time below.   That it hasn't been below zero all year is a testament to how strong the buying pressure has been. It's also a strong warning that the next decline phase may be more severe and longer-lasting than what we saw a couple months ago.    Finally, there's this long-term, monthly chart of the S&P 500...     The S&P 500 ended July above its monthly upper Bollinger Band.   Bollinger Bands measure the most probable range of prices for a stock or index. Any move outside of the bands indicates an extreme condition – one that is likely to reverse.   It's rare for the S&P to close above the upper Bollinger Band on the monthly chart. The two previous times it happened – in 2011 and 2007 – signaled important intermediate-term tops for the stock market. It's too early to tell if that will be the case this time as well.   But it's a good reason to be careful with stocks trading at new all-time highs.   Best regards and good trading,   Jeff Clark  

Best Buy's Latest Holiday Ad: Gutsy, but So Naive

Alamy Best Buy (BBY) is getting unduly cocky in its latest holiday ad. Comic actor Will Arnett reads a revised version of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," featuring a father who knocks off his holiday shopping list with a single trip to the consumer electronics superstore. Arnett goes on to call Best Buy "the great showroom floor." The ad closes with "Your Ultimate Holiday Showroom" as graphic text. Best Buy is clearly trying to take back the word "showroom" at a time when "showrooming" has come to mean consumers kicking the tires of products at local retailers only to order them for less online. That's a real problem for bricks-and-mortar businesses, but nonetheless, Best Buy is making its actual showroom the centerpiece of this holiday season's marketing campaign. That's gutsy. It's also an ill-advised strategy. The Fatal Flaw in Best Buy's Turnaround Story Best Buy has certainly won back investors. The stock has nearly quadrupled since bottoming out last December. There's also probably nobody as confident of Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly. "A year ago people said that showrooming would kill Best Buy" he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview this week. "I think that Best Buy has killed showrooming." That's a brazen claim; Best Buy's fundamentals don't match its stock price. Same-store sales -- the key metric in the retail industry that measures how much the average established store is raking in relative to a year earlier -- have been consistently negative for the past three years. The store-level situation is also actually worse than even the reported numbers suggest. Best Buy is one of the growing number of retailers that include online sales in their same-store sales calculations. Dividing the growing number of BestBuy.com sales into the chain's store count artificially inflates the amount of merchandise that physical stores claim to be selling. No offense, Best Buy, but until you legitimately grow sales at the individual store level, showboating about your showroom is premature. You Can't Spell Holiday without H-O-L-D Between the buoyant stock price, its CEO's bravado, and the perpetually smug Arnett as a pitchman, one might expect Best Buy was headed for a blowout holiday shopping season. Well, analysts don't seem to think so. Analysts see Best Buy's sales sliding nearly 11 percent during the company's fiscal fourth quarter. Amazon.com (AMZN) on the other hand -- the company that supposedly Best Buy is winning the showrooming battle against -- is expected to soar 22 percent during retail's hottest quarter. Wall Street does see Best Buy's profitability continuing to improve, but that's a testament to Joly's skill at cutting costs and improving profit margins. He has certainly done a commendable job on that front, and that's ultimately the reason why the stock has been such a big winner in 2013. However, when it comes to the store's actual popularity, Best Buy is nowhere close to being the retailer that it used to be. The Long Way Down Best Buy has had more than a few bad breaks along the way. The economic slowdown didn't help. The widespread decision among consumers' to take a pass on high-priced 3-D TVs took a bite out of the chain's big-ticket sales. However, the digital revolution has stung Best Buy in more ways than merely the showrooming trend. It's true that more and more customers are armed with smartphones these days. Why buy a stereo receiver or a computer monitor at Best Buy when a few seconds on a smartphone can locate the same product being sold for a lot less online? Best Buy really can't compete on price with Amazon and other Web-based retailers that don't have to pay up for a retail presence. Worse, the smartphone and tablet revolutions hurt Best Buy by pulling the rug out from under its sales of vast quantities of physical media and software -- CDs, DVDs, and video games -- the products that Best Buy once used to lure customers in more often. You may only need a new dishwasher once a decade, but there are new music, movie, and game releases every week. Now that media has gone digital and downloadable, Best Buy has to find new ways to encourage shoppers to trek out to its stores. So far, it hasn't done that. If we go by the same-store sales figures and analyst holiday forecasts, Best Buy's brash advertising strategy amounts to little more than whistling past the graveyard -- and there's a plot waiting for it.

Advisers forced to be nimble as fixed-income risk climbs

As the good old days of low-maintenance bond allocations fade from memory, financial advisers are being forced to learn how to be more creative and nimble when navigating the new reality of fixed-income markets.

“For the first time in my career, I'm very nervous about making sure our clients are protected, should interest rates start rising,” said Bruce Allen, president of Bruce G. Allen Investments.

The problem is complex: With bonds in the dumps, many advisers are cutting their clients' allocations to fixed income. But they have to figure out where to put that money, because it isn't a slam-dunk “toss it into stocks” decision.

Like most advisers these days, Mr. Allen is recognizing the need to confront rising bond yields and the accompanying risks associated with traditional bond mutual funds rapidly losing value.

“When I started in the business in 1985, you just bought the highest-yielding muni bond and you only had to hope it didn't get called away,” he said. “The winds were at our backs and you could do no wrong in fixed income, as long as you had at least a five-year time horizon, but now the winds are at us.”

Although bond strategies of the past might have been of the set-it-and-forget-it variety, any adviser paying attention is talking about anything but.

“The fixed-income side is where the most important work is being done right now, and we're not using any bond mutual funds for our clients,” Mr. Allen said.

With the equity markets on a five-year run, including a 32% gain last year, it would be easy to overlook low yields and increased risk on the bond side of the portfolio.

But that would be extremely short-sighted and dangerous, experts said.

“From a financial planning perspective, I don't think there's a lot of software that is taking into account what's about to happen to the bond market, which means you can't build a financial plan the way you used to with regard to fixed income,” said J. Brent Burns, president of Asset Dedication.

“If the bond side is going to generate only 2% or 3%, the stock side has to work stronger or the planning has to change,” he added. “The problem with where we are with bonds is that rates are low and could remain low for a long time, which means the safe option doesn't have much return.”

A 2014 Investment Outlook survey of InvestmentNews readers found that nearly 48% of adviser respondents plan to decrease exposure to fixed income in the year ahead.

Meanwhile, 50% of respondents plan to advise increasing exposure to emerging-markets stocks, and more than 59% plan to advise clients to add to th! eir international equity exposure.

The survey results illustrate a shift away from bonds, but don't provide a clear indication of where those assets might be going.

It turns out that advisers are mostly scrambling for answers and strategies by keeping bond durations as short as possible and looking for new ways to defend a rising rate cycle with allocations to floating-rate strategies and flexible investment mandates.

“We've been positioning clients for the past year by looking for other tactical managers and those that aren't tied to a benchmark,” said Leslie Thompson, managing principal at Spectrum Management Group.

She added that a typical 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio is now down to 30% in bonds, with the bulk of that reduction now at least temporarily sitting in cash.

And the remaining portion in bond allocation is now being largely allocated to various types of bond alternatives, including master limited partnerships and long-short bond strategies such as the BlackRock Global Long/Short Credit Fund (BGCIX).

Drew Horter, chief investment strategist at Horter Investment Management, has been navigating the bond market challenges by applying a tactical overly strategy to a portfolio of mostly high-yield bond ETFS.

“If you look at what took place in 2013, it was pretty horrid for most fixed income managers, but our strategy made 6.9% last year,” he said. “When rates start to rise, all fixed income assets, we believe, will get hurt except for high yield bonds because they are less interest rate sensitive.”

The tactical overlay strategy basically helps Mr. Horter to move in and out of the high-yield market as risk indicators dictate.

The difficulty of finding yield without taking on too much risk is a theme that echoes across the financial advice industry. And the double-edged sword is that reducing bonds by too much also adds risk.

“As painful as it might be in the short term, it would probably benefit our clients if rates just went up,&#! 8221; sai! d Brian Ullsperger, managing director at WTAS, a tax and wealth advisory firm.

In the meantime, he is navigating the uncertainty of the bond market by underweighting the asset class and allocating to alternative funds such as the Driehaus Active Income Fund (LCMAX), Driehaus Select Credit Fund (DRSLX) and JPMorgan Tax Aware Income Opportunity Fund (JTASX).

Although advisers appear to being leaning more heavily on alternative bond strategies, a common thread is also a move away from traditional bond mutual funds, as was illustrated by the record $86 billion that exited bond funds last year.

Bond funds had their worst year last year since the rising rate cycle of 1994.

Taxable bond funds generated an average decline of 0.2% last year, compared with a decline of 3.4% in 1994, according to Morningstar Inc.

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Municipal bond funds declined by an average of 3.75% last year and by an average of 5.86% in 1994,

“We are staying away from bond funds because if they have to liquidate anything in the fund, you will be locking in sales at an inopportune time,” said Jeff Phillips, chief investment officer at Rehmann Financial.

“For those clients looking more for the income stream, we're looking at higher-yielding asset classes like business development companies, real estate investment trusts and preferred stocks, but we're staying away from things that are highly correlated to equities,” he said. “You're better off getting more creative on the bond side than trying to replace bonds with equities, because if you do that, you will get the risks of equities.”

Retirement Planning: The Dangers of False Optimism

Three weeks ago, I wrote an article about investment assumptions that financial guru Dave Ramsey encourages his readers to make. Specifically, I took issue with the fact that Mr. Ramsey was telling followers to assume they could earn consistent 12% returns over a 40-year time frame; I called it "dangerous" to preach such a message.

One day later, I ended up appearing on Mr. Ramsey's radio show. That visit, combined with time digging into Mr. Ramsey's assumptions, has led me to write this follow up.

Below, I want to provide you with information that I think is crucial to understanding what history has taught us. My goal is to allow you readers to carefully weigh the facts, and make decisions that are in your own best interest.

Mr. Ramsey's 12% number doesn't stand up
The crux of my earlier article was that Mr. Ramsey's promise of 12% returns -- based on historical market averages -- was misleading. It's true that the average annual return of the S&P 500 since 1926 is about 12%, as Mr. Ramsey claims.

But several sources  have repeatedly  demonstrated that average annual returns are worthless when trying to figure out an investment's historical rate of return. Instead, the compound annual growth rate (aka CAGR or annualized return) is the only reliable number to use. The CAGR of the S&P 500 since 1926 is actually 9.87%.

This is why I refer to Mr. Ramsey's projections as "false optimism:" He is taking a number (average annual return), and plugging it into a calculation (projected returns over a 40-year timeline) that it was never meant to be used in.

Mr. Ramsey admitted that the criticism of CAGR vs. average annual returns was "fair," and also stated that his 12% number was used for "educational" and "illustrative" purposes. But when asked why he didn't simply use the more accurate 9.87% number, he said, "Because it's my show!" In the end, he said I was "splitting hairs," and simply trying to smear his name.

Numbers don't lie -- this advice could leave you retired and broke
To illustrate why this advice is so dangerous, let's take a look at Mr. Ramsey's advice when it comes to retirement. In his Total Money Makeover (starting on page 159), Mr. Ramsey suggests that people can withdraw 8% of their nest egg in the first year, and increase that withdrawal each year to match inflation.

That 8% figure is twice as high as the industry standard of 4% withdrawals. Where does the 8% figure come from? Mr. Ramsey says: "If you make 12 percent and only pull out 8 percent, you grow your nest egg by 4 percent per year. That 4 percent keeps your nest egg, and therefore your income, ahead of inflation 'til death do you part." 

In other words, the withdrawals Mr. Ramsey suggests are based squarely on this 12% assumption of returns, and having 100% of your nest egg in stocks while you are retired.

In the real world, these are incredibly risky assumptions. Want proof?

If you retired in 2000, using Mr. Ramsey's withdrawal recommendations, you would have been broke by 2009!

Full stop. Read that again to digest it.

Although the example below uses a $375,000 nest egg and a $30,000 initial withdrawal (because that's the example Mr. Ramsey uses on page 160 of his book), you could plug in any number for the nest egg and, as long as the initial withdrawal is at 8%, you'd still be broke in nine years.

Year

S&P 500 return

Inflation Rate (Decade Average)

Withdrawal

Amount Left After Withdrawal

Investment Return

Year-End Balance

2000	-9.11%	2.56%	$30,000	$345,000	$(31,430)	$313,571
2001	-11.98%	2.56%	$30,768	$282,803	$(33,880)	$248,923
2002	-22.27%	Best Low Price Companies To Watch For 2014 2.56%	$31,556	$217,367	$(48,408)	$168,959
2003	28.72%	2.56%	$32,363	$136,596	$39,230	$175,826
2004	10.82%	2.56%	$33,192	$142,634	$15,433	$158,067
2005	4.79%	2.56%	$34,042	$124,026	$5,941	$129,966
2006	15.74%	2.56%	$34,913	$95,053	$14,961	$110,015
2007	5.46%	2.56%	$35,807	$74,208	$4,052	$78,259
2008	-37.22%	2.56%	$36,724	$41,536	$(15,460)	$26,076
2009	27.11%	2.56%	$37,664	$(11,588)	$0	$0

Sources: S&P 500 returns include dividends reinvested, via Moneychimp.com. Average inflation rates per decade from inflationdata.com.

A quick look at the data will show you that if you had, instead, taken a much more prudent 4% return, you would still have over 43% of your nest egg intact, despite pretty awful market conditions. And remember, I'm not saying $15,000 per year is enough to live on --no matter what your starting nest egg was, you'd have about 43% of it left following the 4% withdrawal plan.

Year

S&P 500 return

Inflation Rate (Decade Average)

Withdrawal

Amount Left After Withdrawal

Investment Return

Year-End Balance

2000	-9.11%	2.56%	$15,000	$360,000	$(32,796)	$327,204
2001	-11.98%	2.56%	$15,384	$311,820	$(37,356)	$274,464
2002	-22.27%	2.56%	$15,778	$258,686	$(57,609)	$201,077
2003	28.72%	2.56%	$16,182	$184,895	$53,102	$237,997
2004	10.82%	2.56%	$16,596	$221,401	$23,956	$245,356
2005	4.79%	2.56%	$17,021	$228,336	$10,937	$239,273
2006	15.74%	2.56%	$17,457	$221,816	$34,914	$256,730
2007	5.46%	2.56%	$17,903	$238,827	$13,040	$251,867
2008	-37.22%	2.56%	$18,362	$233,505	$(86,910)	$146,594
2009	27.11%	2.56%	$18,832	$127,762	$34,636	$162,399

Sources: S&P 500 returns include dividends reinvested, via Moneychimp.com. Average inflation rates per decade from inflationdata.com.

Of course, it would be easy to retort that we are just cherry-picking the data to make Mr. Ramsey's plan look bad.

However, the truth of the matter is that this would have occurred with alarming frequency. If you wanted to retire at 65 and have your money last until you were 90 -- and your returns matched the S&P 500's -- you would have run out of money early if you retired in 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1977.

And, even though you wouldn't be 90 years old yet, you would have also run out of money if you retired in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. And you'd be dangerously close to running out of money if you retired in 1997 or 2002.

All in all, you would have run out of money early in 34 out of 84 of these years. If you only include the situations where retirees have lived to be 90 years old (for instance, we wouldn't include 2012, because we have no idea what the next 39 years hold), then the failure rate for Mr. Ramsey's plan is about 50%!

Think about it: Following this advice gives you a 50/50 chance of being broke before age 90.

And what if you had opted for the traditional 4% withdrawal rule? You would have run out of money if -- and only if -- you retired between 1928 and 1930, just at the start of the Great Depression. If you'd like to look at all of the numbers yourself, they are available here, on two different tabs (one for Mr. Ramsey's plan, one for the standard 4% plan).

Remember, the exact years aren't all that important. What's important is that we have a whole body of history that shows what kind of returns have led us to what we have today. We can't predict the future with any degree of certainty, so the best we can do is use the past as a proxy -- in much the same way Mr. Ramsey gets his erroneous 12% figure.

What this means for you
I'm glad that Mr. Ramsey encourages his followers to get second opinions. Based on the information above, that's extremely important advice. I have no qualms with Mr. Ramsey's advice for getting out of debt, or for saving; you're in good hands if you follow it. In fact, over the course of his career, it's possible that no one has helped as many people right their financial ship as Dave Ramsey has.

But when it comes to investing, saving for college, and retirement planning, I suggest educating yourself, or finding a fee-only advisor to help you with the process.

Social Security plays a key role in your financial security, and with millions of Americans relying primarily on the government program for their retirement income, it's more important than ever for you to make the most of the Social Security benefits you have coming to you. In our brand-new free report, "Make Social Security Work Harder For You," our retirement experts give their insight on making the key decisions that will help you boost your monthly benefits, and ensure a more comfortable retirement for you and your family. The report is absolutely free, so click here to get your copy today.