10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now

Virtually every investor knows by now that the average actively managed mutual fund fails to beat its benchmark. A variety of studies have come to slightly different results, but about two-thirds of actively managed funds fall short of their index.

See Also: Should You Give These Former Star Fund Managers Another Chance?

That has led to a long-standing question: Can individuals or, for that matter, professional investors identify funds that will beat their benchmarks in the future? (I stress the word future because it�� a piece of cake to spot funds that have beaten their bogeys in the past.)

The American funds, the nation�� largest actively managed fund group, have now entered the fray with a provocative study. It asserts that the American funds have, for the most part, beaten their indexes over the long term. And it argues, convincingly, that they may well continue to do so.

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Braskem SA (BRKM5)

Braskem SA is a Brazil-based company primarily engaged in the manufacture of basic petrochemical products. The Company operates in five segments: Basic petrochemicals, Polyolefins, Vinyls, International businesses and Chemical Distribution. The Company�� products portfolio includes ethylene, propylene, butadiene, toluene, xylene, benzene, gasoline, diesel oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as thermoplastic resins, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Additionally, Braskem is also engaged in the import and export of chemicals, petrochemicals and fuels; the production, supply and sale of utilities, such as steam, water, compressed air, industrial gases, as well as the provision of industrial services, and the production, supply and sale of electric energy for its own use and use by other companies. The Company also invests in other companies, either as a partner or shareholder. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Harry Suhartono]

  Brazil�� Ibovespa rose for a third day as traders pared bets on higher borrowing costs in Brazil, boosting the outlook for companies that sell in the local market. B2W Cia. Digital led gains among retailers, with Lojas Americanas SA (LAME3) and Natura Cosmeticos SA (NATU3) also trading higher. Petrochemicals producer Braskem SA (BRKM5) was the worst performer on the equity gauge after O Estado de S.Paulo reported Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4) is seeking to raise prices of naphtha sold to the company by 5 percent.

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Ishares Msci Korea (EWY)

iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (the Fund) seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded securities in the aggregate in the South Korean market. The Fund's performance is measured by the MSCI Korea Index (the Index).

The Fund invests in a representative sample of securities in the Index, which has a similar investment profile as the Index. iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund's investment advisor is Barclays Global Fund Advisors.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jeff Reeves]

  Of course, Samsung�� massive presence has weighed on the region lately. In the last 12 months, the iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (EWY) has declined about 4%, pretty much the same performance as Samsung�� stock.

• [By Benjamin Shepherd]

  The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (NYSE: EEM) seems to have halted its slide.� The index bottomed out year-to-date on February 3, when it was down 11.2 percent. Since then, it has gained 1.5 percent, but bargains in the emerging markets still abound.
  
  As I discussed in �� Plan, Not a Panic��two weeks ago, emerging markets are in much better economic shape today than they were even just a few years ago, much less during the currency crisis that peaked in 1998. Foreign exchange reserves are generally much more robust, budget deficits are narrower if they exist at all and, so far at least, the full-blown currency war that many were predicting last year isn�� likely to breakout.
  
  With rationality finally setting in, this is a terrific time to do a little bargain hunting in the emerging markets.
  
  The most obvious play here is the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index itself. Covering China (18.8 percent of assets), South Korea (16 percent), Taiwan (12 percent) and Brazil (10.2 percent) with smaller positions spanning Asia and Europe, the fund is most exposed to any shift in sentiment.
  
  The fund is currently trading at just 10.2 times forward one-year earnings, well below its average of about 18 times over the past two decades. On a price-to-sales basis it is even more attractive valued at just 1.03 times; the last time the index was this cheap on a sales basis was early 2009.
  
  So while there are always dangers in trying to call a bottom to any market move, valuations alone are attractive enough to start pulling bargain hunters back in.
  
  A broadly diversified play on an emerging market turnaround, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a great buy up to 45, which leaves plenty of room to run back to the average.
  
  For those who can tolerate a bit more risk, you can also drill down and make more country-specific bets.
  
  At this point my favorite would be iShares MSCI South Korea Index Fund (NYSE: EWY).
  
  Sout

10 Best China Stocks To Watch Right Now: Nobility Homes Inc. (NOBH)

Nobility Homes, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells a line of manufactured homes in Florida. It offers homes under the trade names of Kingswood, Springwood, Springwood Special, Tropic Isle Special, Regency Manor Special, and Special Edition. The company sells its manufactured homes through a network of its own retail sales centers; and to independent manufactured home retail dealers and manufactured home communities on a wholesale basis. It also provides retail insurance services, which involves placing various types of insurance, including property and casualty, automobile, and extended home warranty coverage, with insurance underwriters on behalf of its customers in connection with their purchase and financing of manufactured homes. As of October 31, 2009, the company operated 15 retail sales centers in north and central Florida. Nobility Homes, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Ocala, Florida.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Vanina Egea]

  Nobility Homes Inc. (NOBH)

  Finally, Gabelli reported owning 234.950 shares of Nobility Homes, sized at 5.97% of the company�� shares outstanding and 0.01% of Gabelli�� portfolio. The company has a market cap of $44.63 million, with a P/E of 59.6 and P/S of 2.41.

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Colony Financial Inc (CLNY)

Colony Financial, Inc. is a real estate investment and finance company. The Company primarily acquires, originates and manages a diversified portfolio of real estate-related debt instruments. The Company focuses on acquiring, originating and managing commercial mortgage loans, which may be performing, sub-performing or non-performing loans (including loan-to-own strategies), and other commercial real estate-related debt investments. The Company is managed by Colony Financial Manager, LLC (the Manager) and an affiliate of the Company.

The Company also may acquire other real estate and real estate-related debt assets. The Company collectively refers to commercial mortgage loans, other commercial real estate-related debt investments, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), real estate owned (REO), properties and other real estate and real estate-related assets as its target assets.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Amanda Alix]

  Is it risky to be putting so much money into an as-yet unproven business model? Some may think so, including investors. Noting the tumble in stock price that newbies like Silver Bay and American Residential have suffered recently, Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY  ) chief Thomas Barrack postponed�the IPO of his new single-family rental company, Colony American Homes. Similarly, Public Storage (NYSE: PSA  ) has filed for an IPO, too, hoping to take its American Homes 4 Rent unit public -- at some unannounced, future date. In the meantime, American Homes can rely on its $500 million credit facility�with Wells Fargo, which may be bumped up to $1 billion if necessary.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  For Wall Street types, single-family foreclosures can be bought cheaply and in bulk, then fixed up and rented. Companies like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) and Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY  ) have been very active in this market, with the former purchasing 16,000 homes just last year, and the latter ramping up its own portfolio to approximately 7,000. This new industry has also spawned fresh entrants from the REIT field, Silver Bay Realty (NYSE: SBY  ) and Altisource Residential, (NYSE: RESI  ) two trusts that were spun off earlier this year from parent companies Two Harbors Investment (NYSE: TWO  ) and Altisource Portfolio Solutions (NASDAQ: ASPS  ) , specifically to take advantage of the boom in the foreclosure-to-rental market.

• [By Amanda Alix]

  The investment-to-REIT model is alive and well
  Before the very end of last year, those involved in the single-family purchase and rental business were largely private equity groups�like the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX  ) , Colony Financial (NYSE: CLNY  ) , and Oaktree Capital (NYSE: OAK  ) , which bought up distressed properties by the truckload.

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SGOCO Group Ltd(SGOC)

SGOCO Group, Ltd. designs, manufactures, and distributes liquid crystal display (LCD) consumer products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. Its products include LCD personal computer monitors, LCD televisions, light emitting diode back-light modules, and application-specific LCD systems. The company also provides custom manufacturing services for application-specific LCD monitors, such as rotating screens, CCTV monitors for security systems, billboard monitors for advertising and public notice systems, and touch screens for non-keyed entries. SGOCO Group, Ltd. sells its products under the SGOCO, Edge 10, POVIZON, and No. 10 brands through a network of independent retail outlets operating under the ?SGOCO Image? name. The company offers its products to industry clients, such as medical centers, educational institutions, government complexes, public emergency response systems, and corporate offices, as well as to retail customers. As of December 31, 201 0, it had 603 retail stores covering 14 provinces and municipalities in the People?s Republic of China. The company, formerly known as SGOCO Technology, Ltd., was founded in 2006 and is based in Beijing, China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Udovich]

  On Tuesday, large cap�LCD glass maker�Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) began surging some 20% in after hours trading after announcing that it will take over an existing joint venture (Samsung Corning Precision Materials) with Samsung���meaning it might be worth taking a closer look at some small cap peers like Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: OLED), Daktronics, Inc (NASDAQ: DAKT) and SGOCO Group Ltd (NASDAQ: SGOC) who also have a piece of the LCD glass or related flat panel display action. Specifically, the deal involves a series of transactions to�give Corning Incorporated full ownership of Samsung Corning Precision Materials Co., Ltd. (SCP), which manufactures LCD glass in Korea and it should be noted that Corning already relies on sales of LCD-TV glass for the bulk of its profit. In addition, Corning Incorporated���board of directors has authorized an additional $2 billion of share repurchases through Dec. 31, 2015, dependent upon the transaction closing. Wendell P. Weeks, the chairman, CEO and president of Corning Incorporated was quoted in the press release announcing the deal as saying:

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Xerox Corporation(XRX)

Xerox Corporation provides business process and information technology (IT) outsourcing, and document management services worldwide. Its business process outsourcing services include human resources services; finance and accounting services; healthcare payers and pharma; customer management solutions; healthcare provider solutions; technology-based transactional services for retail, travel, and non-healthcare insurance companies; programs for federal, state, county, and town governments; transportation solutions; and government healthcare solutions. The company is involved in designing, developing, and delivering IT solutions, such as comprehensive systems support, systems administration, database administration, systems monitoring, batch processing, data backup, and capacity planning services; telecommunications management services; and desktop services. Its document outsourcing services comprise managed print services that optimize, rationalize, and manage the operation of Xerox and non-Xerox print devices; and communication and marketing services that deliver design, communication, marketing, logistic, and distribution services through SMS, Web, email, and mobile, as well as print media. The company also manufactures and sells products, including desktop monochrome, color and compact printers, multifunction printers, copiers, digital printing presses, and light production devices for small/mid-size businesses and large enterprises. In addition, it sells paper, wide-format systems, network integration solutions, and electronic presentation systems. The company sells its products and solutions through its sales force, as well as through a network of independent agents, dealers, value-added resellers, systems integrators, and the Web. Xerox Corporation was founded in 1906 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sean Williams]

  If you notice a bit more cash in coffers this week, it's because we received our quarterly distribution of $0.0575 per share from Xerox (NYSE: XRX  ) on Monday. Xerox is an extremely sneaky play on the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, because it processes all of California's Medicaid claims. Medicaid is set to expand in a big way across the country, bringing some 16-million new members under its umbrella over the next couple of years. Sure, Xerox still makes money from its legacy printing and service revenue; but it's so much more than that now!

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Five Prime Therapeutics Inc (FPRX)

Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc., incorporated on December 20, 2001, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing protein therapeutics. Protein therapeutics is antibodies or drugs developed from extracellular proteins or protein fragments that block disease processes, including cancer and inflammatory diseases. The Company�� advanced product candidates include FP-1039/GSK3052230 (FP-1039), FPA008 and FPA144. FP-1039 is a protein therapeutic that traps and neutralizes cancer-promoting fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), involved in cancer cell proliferation and new blood vessel formation. FPA008 is an antibody that inhibits colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF1R), and is being developed to treat patients with inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). FPA144 is an antibody that inhibits FGF receptor 2b (FGFR2b), and is being developed to treat patients with gastric cancer and potentially other solid tumors.

FP-1039

FP-1039 is a protein therapeutic, which includes the extracellular part of FGFR1. FP-1039 acts as an inhibitor of FGFs, because the FGFR1 portion of the molecule binds to FGFs and prevents them from binding to FGFR1 on tumor and blood vessel cells. Because FGF proteins circulating in the blood are called ligands, FP-1039 is called a ligand trap. FP-1039 also includes a portion of an antibody called the Fc region. In preclinical testing, it observed inhibition of tumor growth with single-agent FP-1039, particularly in tumors withFGFR1 gene amplification, including squamous NSCLC and SCLC.

FPA008

FPA008 is an antibody that inhibits CSF1R and is being developed to treat patients with RA. FPA008 also has the potential to treat patients with other inflammatory diseases, including lupus nephritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. These are chronic, incurable disorders with serious medical complications and disability for ! which better therapies with novel mechanisms of action are needed. FPA008 is an anti-CSF1R antibody, which it designed to block the ability of IL-34 and CSF1 to bind to and activate CSF1R. FPA008 reduces the numbers and activity of monocytes and macrophages that cause disease, and prevents the production and release of inflammatory factors. The Company and others has demonstrated that both IL-34 and CSF1 are present at increased levels in the inflamed joints of patients with RA.

FPA144

FPA144 is a monoclonal antibody directed against a form of FGFR2, or FGFR2b. When the FGFR2 gene is amplified by cancer cells, the FGFR2b protein is expressed at abnormally high levels on the tumor�� surface. This occurs in some patients with gastric and lower esophageal cancers. The tumor cells that have too much FGFR2b protein on their surface can be identified by special staining tests performed on the tumor. Because FGFR2b is the target for FPA144, patients��tumors can be screened for this protein, helping to identify the patients most likely to respond to FPA144 treatment.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Kell and Tess Stynes var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); p]

  Among the companies with shares expected to actively trade in Monday’s session are Keurig Green Mountain Inc.(GMCR), JA Solar Holdings Co.(JASO) and Five Prime Therapeutics Inc.(FPRX)

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SilverCrest Mines Inc (SVLC)

SilverCrest Mines Inc. (SilverCrest), incorporated on May 22, 1973, is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Mexico and Central America. The Company�� principal focus is the development and operation of the Santa Elena Project, which property consists of seven mineral concessions totaling 2,726.54 hectares, portions of which include the producing Santa Elena gold and silver mine located northeast of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico. It operates in three segments: the mine operations at Santa Elena, Mexico; mine exploration and evaluation projects at La Joya and Cruz de Mayo, Mexico, and Corporate. The Company is also focused on exploring and developing its La Joya Property located in Durango, Mexico, which contains a discovered polymetallic deposit. The Company�� other mineral properties include the Cruz de Mayo Project (Mexico), the La Joya Property (Mexico), the Silver Angel Project (Mexico) and the El Zapote Project (El Salvador).

The La Joya Property consists of 14 mineral concessions with a total area of approximately 8,379.6 hectares. Its Cruz de Mayo Project consists of two mineral concessions comprising a total of 452 hectares. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Cruz de Mayo 2 concession (which encompasses 434 hectares). The Silver Angel Project consists of two mineral concessions encompassing a total of 3,251 hectares located in the northern Sierra Madre Range in Sonora, Mexico. The Company holds a 100% interest in these concessions, which were acquired by concession applications.

The El Zapote Project consists of two mineral concessions (the El Caliche and San Juan Exploration Concessions) located in the Department of Santa Ana in northern El Salvador, Central America. The Company holds a 100% interest in the El Zapote Project. During the year ended December 31, 2011, an initial drill program of 25 holes totaling approximately 2,900 meters was completed on the Santa Elena Norte target, located approximately 1 kilo! meters north of the Santa Elena Mine.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Hebba Investments]

  Even with rising Q2 costs, GG still has lower true all-in costs than many of its larger competitors' Q1FY13 costs. Compared to Q1FY13 numbers of competitors such as Yamana Gold (AUY) (costs just over $1300), Kinross Gold (KGC) (costs above $1350), Silvercrest Mines (SVLC) (costs below $1100), Newmont Gold (NEM) (costs around $1300) Agnico-Eagle (AEM) (costs around $1400) and Barrick Gold (ABX) (costs around $1200).

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: SodaStream International Ltd.(SODA)

SodaStream International Ltd. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of home beverage carbonation systems and related products. Its home beverage carbonation systems enable consumers to transform ordinary tap water into carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water. The company offers a range of soda makers; exchangeable carbon-dioxide (CO2) cylinders; beverage-grade CO2 refills; reusable carbonation bottles; and various flavors comprising fruit, carbonated soft drink, and enhanced flavors to add to the carbonated water. It also sells additional accessories for its products, including bottle cleaning materials and ice cube trays manufactured by third parties. The company sells its products under the SodaStream and Soda-Club brand names through approximately 50,000 retail stores in 42 countries, as well as through the Internet; and distributes its products directly in 12 countries and indirectly through local distributors in other markets. It operates in Europe , North and Central America, Israel, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and east Asia. The company was formerly known as Soda-Club Holdings Ltd. and changed its name to SodaStream International Ltd. in March 2010. SodaStream International Ltd. is headquartered in Airport City, Israel.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Michael Lewis]

  Last year, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) sent a warning shot across Green Mountain Coffee Roasters'� (NASDAQ: GMCR  ) nose with the introduction of the Verismo brewing system. As the latter's K-Cup patent expired and generics flooded the market, investors ran for the hills with the idea of do-no-wrong Howard Schulz moving his company in direct competition. Now, another home-brew innovator may be shaking in its boots as Starbucks has begun offering a new product in select stores. Should SodaStream (NASDAQ: SODA  ) investors fear the Seattle juggernaut?

10 Best Industrial Disributor Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO)

Yahoo! Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses. The company?s communications and communities offerings include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, Flickr, and Connected TV, which provide a range of communication and social services to users and small businesses enabling users to organize into groups and share knowledge, common interests, and photos. Its search products comprise Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Local, available free to users to navigate the Internet and discover content. The company?s marketplaces offerings and services include Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Autos, and Yahoo! Small Business, which allow users to research specific topics, products, services, or areas of interest by review ing and exchanging information, obtaining contact details, or considering offers from providers of goods, services, or parties with similar interests. Its media offerings comprise Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Finance, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! Entertainment & Lifestyles, Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Yahoo! Pulse, which are designed to engage users with online content and services on the Web. The company also offers marketing services, such as display and search advertising, listing-based services, and commerce-based transactions to advertisers. In addition, it provides software and platform offerings for third-party developers, advertisers, and publishers, such as Yahoo! Developer Network, Yahoo! Open Strategy, Yahoo! Application Platform, Yahoo! Updates, Yahoo! Query Language, and Yahoo! Search BOSS. The company has strategic alliances with Nokia and ABC News, Inc. Yahoo! Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO  ) has added some tech industry heft to its advertising efforts. The company announced it hired Ned Brody as its senior vice president and head of the Americas, putting him in charge of its advertising business on the two key continents. The appointment is effective immediately.

• [By Charles Carlson]

  Steve Halpern: Now, let's turn to your more speculative pick from 2013, which was Yahoo (YHOO), and the stock's risen over 100%, since you recommended it. What made you choose that as a speculative favorite for the past year.

• [By Rick Aristotle Munarriz]

  Alamy Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is heading for the exit. Should Microsoft (MSFT) shareholders follow suit? Shares of the software giant soared 7 percent on Friday on news that it would be replacing Ballmer as CEO within the next 12 months. The market's opinion of the news must sting Ballmer (though it also made him a few hundred million dollars richer), but investors expecting that Microsoft's next leader will be able to return the company to its former glory may be in for a rude awakening. Why would consumers and businesses want to return to a time when they were dependent on a stodgy operating system that was expensive and slow to adapt? What if Microsoft doesn't find the right CEO? What if there is no such thing as the CEO? Those are just a few of the heavy questions that Microsoft's stockholders face in light of Ballmer's pending departure, and they may not like the answers. You Can't Go Home Again First, let's talk fundamentals. Does Microsoft's business make it a good buy for forward-thinking investors? Well, in the past dozen years, Microsoft has gone from being the world's most valuable company to one that is worth less than two-thirds of what current leader Apple (AAPL) is today. Microsoft and Google (GOOG) commanded nearly identical $290 billion market caps at the kick off of this trading week, and the search engine giant wasn't even publicly traded when Ballmer was tapped to be Microsoft's CEO in 2000. In fact, Google had only been founded 16 months earlier. Tech babies grow so fast these days. And that, at least in part, is the root of Microsoft's problems. Computing hasn't merely evolved -- it has metamorphosed. Consumers aren't buying PCs like they used to. Desktop and laptop sales have fallen sharply for five consecutive quarters, which has never happened before. That's not a lull. That's not a bad stretch. That's a trend. And it isn't just a Windows woe. Apple's Mac sales have also been sliding in recent quarters. Most PC buyers never

• [By Wall Street Sector Selector]

  So does "Big Ben" trump everything? Apparently so, as the S&P 500 repeatedly sets new record highs. What has kept stocks flying? NOT QUARTERLY Earnings as the list below clearly demonstrates:

  United Parcel Service (UPS) – On July 12, the company announced that it was lowering its profit forecast for the year and that it expects to report earnings of $1.13 per share on July 23. Although analysts were expecting annual EPS to reach $4.98, the company lowered its guidance to a range between $4.65 and $4.85.Yahoo (YHOO) – Although Yahoo's earnings of 35 cents per share beat estimates of 30 cents per share, the company fell short at the top line, reporting quarterly revenue of $1.07 billion, compared with estimates of $1.8 billion.Google – Google reported quarterly earnings of $9.56 per share on net revenue of $11.1 billion, falling short of estimates of $10.80 per share on net revenue of $11.4 billion.Intel (INTC) – Intel reported quarterly EPS of 39 cents on revenue of $12.8 billion, missing estimates of 40 cents per share on revenue of $12.9 billion.Coca-Cola (KO) – Coke reported quarterly EPS of 59 cents on revenue of $12.75 billion, compared with estimates of 63 cents per share on $12.96 billion in revenue.American Micro Devices – AMD reported a "less bad than expected" quarterly loss of 9 cents per share on revenue of $1.16 billion, beating estimates of a 12-cent-per-share loss on revenue of $1.11 billionMicrosoft – Microsoft reported quarterly EPS of 59 cents on revenue of $19.9 billion, missing estimates of 75 cents per share on revenue of $20.73 billion.IBM: Big Blue reported quarterly EPS of $3.91 on revenue of $24.9 billion. Although it beat the EPS estimate of $3.77, it missed the revenue estimate of $25.37 billion.FedEx (FDX) – FedEx beat quarterly EPS estimates of $1.96, reporting earnings of $2.13 per share. However, its quarterly revenue of $11.45 billion fell short of the estima

Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; UTi Worldwide Reports Q4 Loss

Related BZSUM Mid-Day Market Update: Nordion Surges On Acquisition News; BlackBerry Shares Decline Brent Supported By Conflict Between Russia And The West

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 0.88 percent to 16,466.61 while the NASDAQ surged 1.22 percent to 4,206.58. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.78 percent to 1,872.17.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
Monday morning, the healthcare sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Nordion (NYSE: NDZ) and Pacira Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCRX). Utilities sector rose by just 0.19 percent in the US market today.

Among the sector stocks, Pure Cycle (NASDAQ: PCYO) was down more than 1.3 percent, while Korea Electric Power (NYSE: KEP) tumbled around one percent.

Top Headline
UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. UTi Worldwide posted a quarterly net loss of $50.7 million, or $0.48 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $142.8 million, or $1.38 per share.

Excluding items, UTi lost $0.15 per share. Its revenue slipped 2.1% to $1.08 billion. However, analysts were estimating a loss of $0.11 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion.

Equities Trading UP
Nordion (NYSE: NDZ) shares shot up 11.19 percent to $11.58 after the company agreed to be acquired by Sterigenics for $11.75 per share.

Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ: HALO) got a boost, shooting up 6.11 percent to $12.85 after the company reported that Consistent 1 trial Of Hylenex(R) recombinant has met primary endpoint.

ING Groep NV (NYSE: ING) was also up, gaining 4.11 percent to $14.28 after the company announced its plans to resume paying dividends in 2015. 

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of GenCorp (NYSE: GY) were down 5.16 percent to $17.64 after the company reported Q1 results. GenCorp reported a Q1 loss of $0.03 per share.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) shares tumbled 5.23 percent to $7.97 after falling 7.07% on Friday. Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded BlackBerry from neutral to underperform and lowered the target price from $7 to $6.

UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) was down, falling 5.42 percent to $10.65 after the company reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.

Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.07 percent to $101.60, while gold traded down 0.16 percent to $1,292.20. Silver traded up 0.23 percent Monday to $19.84, while copper fell 0.48 percent to $3.03.

Eurozone
European shares were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.27 percent, while Italy's FTSE MIB Index gained 1.53 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX surged 0.25 percent and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.26 percent while U.K. shares gained 0.70 percent.

Economics
US Chicago PMI fell to 55.90 in March, versus a prior reading of 59.80. However, economists were expecting a reading of 59.00.

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

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

© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Microsoft Signs ABB to Use Microsoft Office 365, Yammer

ABB (NYSE: ABB  ) has agreed to implement Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Office 365 and its enterprise social network, Yammer, utilizing the cloud-based solutions across its international operations, Microsoft announced today.

Currently, ABB utilizes multiple enterprise solutions to communicate among its 145,000 employees located in 100 countries. ABB provides power and automation technologies for utility and industrial customers worldwide.

Microsoft quoted ABB Chief Information Officer Andy Tidd as saying, "Office 365 and Yammer will enable us to transform communication and collaboration among our employees, surfacing the best and most innovative ideas across the organization."

Office 365 integrates multiple functions, including mail, video conferencing, and Yammer. Microsoft COO Kevin Turner was quoted as saying, "ABB's decision as a global technology leader to deploy Office 365 and Yammer will help it realize its vision for empowering employees with new ways of working via enterprise social and the cloud."

link

Warren Buffett's good advice applied to 3 ETFs

Despite the garbled cacophony of market punditry that washes in and out of the news media like the tide, there's actually a straightforward way to achieve satisfactory investment results. This, at least, is the argument offered by Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA)(BRKB) Chair and CEO Warren Buffett, who is perhaps chief among those wise and savvy men and women who make up the pantheon of legendary investors.

"You don't need to be an expert in order to achieve satisfactory investment returns," Buffett wrote in his 2013 letter to shareholders. You don't even need to spend your time seeking obscure information advantages in the archives of the Securities and Exchange Commission or looking for enlightenment in academic financial literature (unless this kind of nose-to-the-grindstone pastime is your cup of tea, in which case, sláinte!)

The basis for Buffett's argument is this: "In aggregate, American business has done wonderfully over time and will continue to do so (though, most assuredly, in unpredictable fits and starts.) If this is true (and why shouldn't it be), then the "goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners — neither he nor his 'helpers' can do that — but should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well." After all, what could be a more satisfactory investment result than a replication of the growth of the market at large?

There is, of course, an echelon of money managers whose job it is to do just the opposite — to buck the index, identify winners and losers, and therefore outpace the market. But this is a game best left to those with an appetite for risk, because most of the players will fail. This is a point Buffett and others have argued, convincingly, for decades.

For the rest — the vast majority of people looking to invest in their retirement or in their children's college education — step back and don't treat the market like a game. Treat it as a mechanism to facilitate investments into debt and equity th! at will help you grow your wealth.

"My money, I should add, is where my mouth is," Buffett adds in his letter to shareholders. "What I advise here is essentially identical to certain instructions I've laid out in my will. One bequest provides that cash will be delivered to a trustee for my wife's benefit …. My advice to the trustee could not be more simple: Put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund."

Buffett even goes as far as to recommend one: Vanguard's S&P 500 index fund (VOO). For about $170 (market price as of March 26, 2014) investors can own a slice of the entire S&P 500. Moreover, the fund has an expense ratio of just 0.05%, pretty much the lowest fee you can find.

Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF is about as vanilla as an investment as you can get, which is to say that it will do the trick, but it's not very interesting. There's nothing wrong with this — it's generally better to avoid thrill-seeking while investing — but there's also nothing wrong with exploring some more targeted investments, which can be done while still applying the same general lesson spelled out by Buffett. In fact, an investor can even seek to replicate the same broad strategy that has worked so well for Buffett. Here's a couple of angles to pursue.

1. The financial sector

During the late-2000s crisis, Buffett bet big on the U.S. financial sector — really, really big. When the financial markets seized, Buffett made white knight investments in banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC) as well as in financial institutions like GE Capital (GE) to the tune of $24 billion. He traded them cash for preferred stock, which typically paid enormous dividends, as well as purchased warrants for common stock.

Buffett's position in the financial industry didn't begin with the crisis, though. Berkshire first took a position in Wells Fargo (WFC) in 1990, and that position has since grown to be the company's largest holdi! ng. When ! asked about his stance on the financial industry, Buffett's response is generally characteristically straightforward.

"The banks will not get this country in trouble," Buffett told Bloomberg's Betty Liu early in 2013. "I guarantee it. The capital ratios are huge, the excesses on the asset side have been largely cleared out." At the time, Buffett had multibillion-dollar investments in four of the seven largest U.S. lenders by assets. "Our banking system is in the best shape in recent memory," Buffett told Bloomberg.

Taking a big bet on individual banks can be risky, but if you believe the industry as a whole is positioned for outsized returns then you can make that bet through ETFs like the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF), which actually owns a sizable portion of Berkshire stock and runs an expense ration of 0.18%.

2. Big chunks of earning power

In an interview with CNBC at the beginning of March, Buffett said that, "Our preference at Berkshire is to keep buying big operating businesses. In terms of building Berkshire for the long-term, we just like adding earning power, big chunks of earning power." What could be better than that?

This comment was made in the wake of two major purchases in 2013. First, Buffett purchased a major interest in H.J. Heinz, a food processing company with deep roots in the United States. Berkshire was the financing partner in the deal, working with 3G Capital, a multinational long-term value creation investment firm run by Jorge Paulo Lemann, who, like many of his business partners, Buffett considers a friend. "With the Heinz purchase, moreover," Buffett said in his shareholder letter, "we created a partnership template that may be used by Berkshire in future acquisitions of size."

Second, through its utility subsidiary MidAmerican Energy, Berkshire purchased NV Energy, a public electric utility company in southern Nevada that services the Las Vegas Valley. NV Energy supplies electricity to "about 88% of Nevada's population," accordi! ng to Buf! fett, which makes the business effectively inseparable from the economy of the region. As long as Nevada consumes power, NV Energy will be there to supply it. Buffett emphasized that "NV Energy will not be MidAmerican's last major purchase."

But purchases like this naturally fall outside the realm of possibility for most investors, so again we'll turn to the world of ETFs. One to check out is the WisdomTree Earnings 500 Fund (EPS). If you can't tell by the ticker, this fund stacks itself based on the earnings power of the 500 largest companies sorted by earnings.

3. Short-term government bonds

Equities tend to offer better returns than bonds, but they also require a higher-risk tolerance. Most portfolios are incomplete without some bonds, and Buffett recommends those at the shorter end of the duration spectrum.

Bonds have been a tricky investment recently thanks to loose monetary policy and quantitative easing — for example, PIMCO's Total Return Fund, the largest and one of the most successful bond funds in the world, posted its worst year since 1994 in 2013 — but sticking to the shorter end of the duration spectrum can provide some shelter against interest-rate fluctuations as the Federal Reserves executes the taper.

Vanguard offers a short-term bond ETF (BSV) that fits the bill and carries an expense ratio of just 0.10%.

MORE: These 10 housing markets are looking bubblicious

MORE: Bank of America's back in business, raising its dividend

MORE: Jobless claims make steady progress, nothing more

Wall St. Cheat Sheet is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

Transocean: How Safe Would a $3 Dividend Be?

According to Transocean’s (RIG) CEO, very safe.

Bloomberg

Citigroup’s Robin Shoemaker and team hosted an investor meeting with Transocean’s CEO Steven Newman, where investors pondered the sustainability of the company’s dividend. They explain:

Newman also was questioned about the proposed $3.00 dividend and whether it is sustainable if the market downturn lasts longer that the company currently anticipates. His response was to describe the actions the company is taking to boost its performance and financial flexibility to fund its dividend and carry out its fleet renewal strategy simultaneously. Among these actions are the sale or spin-off of the company's non-core assets (mostly older floaters), the formation of an MLP-like vehicle that would include some of the company's best and newest rigs, and the
completion of a plan to boost margins by $500 million by the end of 2015 through a combination of higher revenue efficiency and operating cost reductions. He indicated that there are multiple levers the company could pull to maintain its growth and its dividend through the current challenging phase of the business cycle. Our impression is that he sees the $3.00 dividend as a strong commitment.

Shares of Transocean are unchanged at $40.47 today, while Ensco (ESV) has risen 0.7% to $52.43, Atwood Oceanics (ATW) is little changed at $49.47, Diamond Offshore (DO) has risen 0.4% to $47.02 and  Seadrill (SDRL), whose strategy Transocean may be following, has ticked up 0.2% to $34.30.

Microsoft announces Office for iPad

  See Microsoft's new Office for iPad NEW YORK (CNNMoney) After years of speculation, Microsoft Office is finally on the iPad.

In his first public appearance since being named Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) new CEO, Satya Nadella unveiled the next evolution of Office. The ubiquitous productivity suite, which includes apps such as Office and Excel, has been optimized for use with touch screens and fingers.

Microsoft had done some work on Office 2013 to make it more finger friendly, but with Office for iPad, it's a full-fledged step forward. The look of Office isn't radically changed, but many features have been subtly streamlined to make things less painful.

The biggest difference is that Microsoft isn't trying to push every formatting option in front of your face, instead identifying the most essential features, and using that screen space to make those icons bigger.

Microsoft Word, for example, closely resembles Word 2013, but the interface has been simplified to highlight just the most important formatting options. Text and images can easily be highlighted and manipulated with the finger--as is the case most iPad word processors.

Microsoft Excel is able to interpret what type of data you're working with and automatically suggest formatting options to save time digging through menus for a specific type of graph.

Powerpoint has been the most straightforward and tablet-ready product of the bunch, but on the iPad its as touch-optimized as you'd expect, allowing users to build presentations with a few taps and swipes.

Also notable is the more pronounced integration of Microsoft OneDrive into Office. All documents are automatically backed up and synced to Microsoft's Cloud, with an easy-to-use interface. Multi-user collaboration has also been integrated deeper into the experience.

That the tablet-optimized version of Office launched on Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPad first, and not a Windows or Android tablet, is a testament to the influence of the iPad in the tablet space.

But while all of what Microsoft showed off looks and sounds fine, it doesn't seem to solve the problem of productivity apps on touch devices as much as it just makes them more tolerable to use.

Of course, the larger question is whether it matters that Office is now available for the iPad. For years, there have been scores of productivity apps available! in the app store, including Google (GOOAV) Drive and Apple's own iWork suite, both of which are free. There have also been third-party apps, such as the word processor Writer Pro and the spreadsheet app Grid, which are helping to evolve or even reinvent the entire concept of what productivity software.

But do enough people care that much about productivity and file compatibility on a tablet to make the leap to Office for iPad? That's a big, unanswered question.

Office for iPad will be available in the iTunes App Store on Thursday afternoon for free. But only reading documents will be free. Those wanting to create and edit content will have to purchase an Office 365 subscription, starting at $70 a year.

Has the Biotech Bubble Popped?

No, says Credit Suisse analyst Ravi Mehrotra and team, when contemplating the recent drops in Gilead Sciences (GILD), Biogen Idec (BIIB), Celgene (CELG) and their ilk. They explain why:

When looking at the overall picture, it is clear that the biotech bull markets of1999/2000 and 2013/2014 are notably different (now driven by an appetite for EPS growth vs. genomics/tech then, now valuation is arguably not stretched relative to other sectors). However, we also highlight that there are some similarities between this bull market and the last (generalist in-flows and preclinical public companies), which could drive some lingering market nervousness. In keeping with our (still standing) “generalist GARPy inflow hypothesis” we remain confident of the >25% large-cap biotech sector’s medium-term EPS growth rate (vs. high single-digit for the S&P500). In our view, unless we see a fundamental disappointment in the "leadership" companies, we think valuation of (at least the large caps within) the biotech sector is supported and actually provides room for upside. We note that if we see a further 10.5% decline in the stock across the large caps it would place the sector at 2015 PE parity to the S&P (with >4x the EPS growth). Large cap biotech is now trading at a 2015 and 2016 PE discount to the S&P500!

Mehrotra’s prefers Biogen Idec, Gilead Sciences and Celgene among large-cap biotech stocks.

Shares of Biogen Idec have dropped 1% to $309.37 today at 11:34 a.m., while Gilead Sciences has gained 0.9% to $72.74 and Celgene has advanced 1.5% to $143.55.

5 Best Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2014

Oracle Corporation (ORCL) provides computer hardware, products, and services, as well as enterprise software. The company is actively working to shift the complexity of Information Technology out of the enterprise environment by engineering and distributing hardware and software that are able to work together in harmony. Oracle has obtained over 400,000 customers across more than 145 countries around the world by simplifying IT. The company�� main focus is to enable other enterprises to continue to grow and innovate without having to worry about the complexity of their hardware and software, with their slogan being, ��ardware and Software, Engineered to Work Together�� Oracle Corporation is organized into three different businesses: Software, Hardware Systems, and Services.

The Software business itself is actually separated into two segments itself: New Software Licenses, and Software License Updates and Product Support. The New Software Licenses segment, as the name implies, focuses primarily on the licensing (selling) of their various software products that are designed to perform a multitude of different functions. The Software License Updates and Product Support segment deals with updating client�� software with patches and upgrades, and offering product support.

5 Best Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2014: Rockwood Holdings Inc (ROC)

Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (Rockwood), incorporated in September 19, 2000, is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals and advanced materials used for industrial and commercial purposes. Rockwood is focused on surface treatment and lithium chemicals, advanced ceramics, titanium dioxide pigments, iron-oxide pigments, timber-treatment chemicals and clay-based additives. Its products consist primarily of inorganic chemicals and solutions and engineered materials. As of December 31, 2012, it manufactured its products in 80 facilities in more than twenty countries and sold its products and services to more than 60,000 customers. The Company operates in five segments: Lithium, Surface Treatment, Performance Additives, Titanium Dioxide Pigments, and Advanced Ceramics. In September 2012, its subsidiary, Chemetall GmbH, completed the formal legal split of its operations into two independent legal entities. In September 2013, Rockwood Holdings, Inc completed the sale of CeramTec, its advanced ceramics business to Cinven. In October 2013, Rockwood Holdings Inc announced that the specialty chemicals group ALTANA completed the acquisition of the rheology business of Rockwood Holdings, Inc.

Lithium

The Company�� Lithium segment operates under the Rockwood Lithium brand name and develops lithium chemicals for a range of industries and end markets. It develops and manufactures a broad range of basic lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties and reagents, including butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride. The Company operates its lithium business along five business divisions: Lithium Salts, Special Salts, Butyllithium/Lithium Metal, Battery Products and Lithium Specialties.

The Company develops and manufactures basic lithium compounds, which serve a range of industries and applications, and potash. Its products include lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium nitrate, lithium chloride ! and potash. The Company develops and manufactures products which include lithium phosphate, lithium bromide and lithium carbonate pharmaceutical grade. It develops and manufactures lithium products for electronic applications, mainly for the primary (disposable) and secondary (rechargeable) battery industries. It develop and manufacture lithium compounds and other products for life science applications, such as special reagents for the synthesis of drug intermediates as well as for the flavor and fragrances industry. The Company develops and manufactures a range of products based on special metal compounds derived from cesium, zirconium, titanium, barium and rubidium.

The Company competes with FMC Corporation, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A., Cabot Corporation, Sigma Aldrich Corporation.

Surface Treatment

The Company�� Surface Treatment segment operates under the Chemetall brand name and develops and manufactures metal surface treatment products and services for a range of industries and end markets. This segment supplies surface treatment products and solutions for metal processing industries. It develops and supplies products and solutions for the chemical pre-treatment of metals and other substrates, some of which are customized for individual customers and applications. The Company provides surface treatment products and solutions for automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including an entire range of products and services for use in the paint shop step of car-body and automotive component manufacture. It provides products and services used to facilitate the cold forming of tubes, wire drawing and cold extrusion of metal.

The Company competes with Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Nihon Parkerizing Co., Ltd., PPG Industries, Inc. and Nippon Paint Co., Ltd.

Performance Additives

The Company�� Performance Additives segment consists of business lines which develop and manufacture a range of specialty chemicals us! ed indust! rial and consumer products and processes. The Company produces synthetic iron-oxide and other inorganic pigments in a range of yellow, red, orange, ultramarine blue, black, manganese violet or blended shades, and serves the construction, paints and coatings, plastics, and specialty application markets with powder, granular and liquid grades. The Company develops and manufactures principally iron-oxide pigments for manufacturers of construction products for use in the coloring of concrete products, including paving stones, bricks, concrete blocks, roofing tiles, stucco and mortar.

It also develops and manufactures color pigments for the paints, coatings, plastics, paper and rubber end-use markets including its brands Ferroxide, Trans-oxide, Solaplex, Solarox and Colourplex. It produces a wide variety of pigments that include synthetic iron-oxides, corrosion inhibitor pigments, complex inorganic color pigments and process natural pigments such as burnt umbers and siennas. Its iron-oxide pigments are also used in a variety of specialty applications such as toner for printers and copiers, security inks used to print bank notes, catalysts for styrene production and cosmetics.

The Company�� Timber Treatment Chemicals business line manufactures food protection products primarily in North America and Europe. Its Timber Treatment Chemicals business also manufactures inorganic chemicals such as nitrates and chlorides for various industrial applications including chemicals that are added to concrete as curing accelerants and corrosion inhibitors, chemicals that are used for odor control in water treatment, galvanizing fluxes, micronutrients, pesticides and catalysts used in the manufacture of textile resins. The Company also develops and manufacture inorganic metallic chemicals for certain specialty markets. Its Clay-based Additives business develops and manufactures a range of specialty rheology modifiers and additives.

The Company competes with Lanxess AG, Cathay Pigment! s Group, ! Interstar Materials Inc. and Shanghai Yipin Pigments Co., Ltd., Lonza Group Ltd, Osmose, Inc., BASF Group, Kurt Obermeier GmbH & Co. KG, Rutgers AG, Elementis plc, Laviosa Chimica Mineraria S.p.A., R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc., Amcol, and Feralco AB.

Titanium Dioxide Pigments

The Company�� Titanium Dioxide Pigments segment operates under the Sachtleben brand name. Titanium Dioxide Pigments consists of two business lines: Titanium Dioxide and Functional Additives. It produces specialty grade titanium dioxide (TiO2) serving a variety of customers in the synthetic fibers, plastics, paints, packaging inks, coatings, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and paper industries. The Company also develops TiO2 pigments, which are mainly used in special applications such as selected coatings, paints, packaging inks, plastics and laminated paper production processes. Its Functional Additives business line is a global manufacturer of barium-based and zinc-based inorganic fine white pigments and additives.

The Company competes with Fuji Titanium Industry Co., Ltd, Kronos Worldwide, Inc, DuPont Titanium Technologies, Cristal Global, Tronox Incorporated, Huntsman LLC, Tayca Corporation, Ishihara Corporation and Evonik Degussa., Solvay S.A., Gruppo Chimico Dalton S.p.A., Sakai Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

Advanced Ceramics

The Company�� Advanced Ceramics segment operates under the CeramTec brand name. The Company produces ceramic components for hip joint prostheses, such as ball heads and inserts and ceramic glove formers latex gloves. The Company develops and manufacture products used in cutting tools, other tools and tooling systems. The Company develops and manufactures ceramic components that are used in mechanical applications and systems. Its products in mechanical applications include cutting blades, drawing and forming tools, drawing cones and capstans, guide elements, precision parts, pre-forms and friction discs. It also produces products used for app! lications! in certain niche markets, such as electrical/thermal and ceramic metal connections, pre-forms for the casting process of piston engines, mainly for diesel engines, and wear and corrosion protection in industrial plants and armor components used in vehicle protection.

The Company competes with Kyocera Corporation, CoorsTek, Inc., The Morgan Crucible Company plc and 3M.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Pato Kehoe]

  Quality video content has continuously increased in value over the past years, and this firm has a made a point of following the money trail by producing and broadcasting an ample amount of high quality products. From award winning shows like ��odern Family��or ��he Simpsons,��to its popular sports programming, Twenty-First Century Fox has constantly satisfied the market's thirst for entertainment. The News Corp (NWSA) spin-off, for one, was a highly beneficial strategy for this company, setting it apart as a pure-play entertainment firm. By concentrating resources and management on the cable network business and shaking off Rupert Murdoch�� print segment, the firm was able to boost its EBITDA growth as well as its return on capital (ROC). The current metrics of 28.80% and 154% respectively are quite impressive and will be highly beneficial for investors if they can be sustained.

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Specialty chemicals maker�Rockwood Holdings� (NYSE: ROC  ) �announced yesterday�its second-quarter dividend of $0.40 per share, the same rate it paid last quarter after raising the payout 14%, from $0.35 per share.

• [By Myra Ramdenbourg]

  Rockwood Holdings Inc. (ROC): Sen VP and CFO Robert J Zetta sold 32,500 Shares

  On 8/07/2013, Sen VP and CFO Robert J Zatta sold 32,500 shares at the average price of $64.92. The price of the stock has increased by 10.32% since. Rockwood Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $5.24 billion. The company�� shares were traded at around $71.62; it has a P/E ratio of 4.60 and P/S ratio of 1.24. The dividend yield of Rockwood Holdings Inc. stocks is 2.37%.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  We're seeing the exact same trading setup in shares of Rockwood Holdings (ROC) right now, only stretched out much longer term. ROC has actually spent most of 2013 stuck consolidating in an ascending triangle pattern of its own, with resistance in place at $68. Despite some attempts at pushing through that price level back in late September, ROC is still in the pattern.

  That makes $68 the price level to watch in November.

  The resistance level to watch now is at $36. A move through that price ceiling is the signal that buyers are in control of shares, and upside is a high-probability trade. Typically, rounding bottoms come into play at the bottom of a stock's recent price action, not the top (as in MSFT's case). But while this setup isn't textbook, the trading implications are every bit as bullish here.

  A move through $37.50 is a signal that it's time to be a buyer in Lions Gate, while a breakdown through $34 means that it's time to sell.

  Whenever you're looking at any technical price pattern, it's critical to think in terms of those buyers and sellers. Rectangles, triangles, and other pattern names are a good quick way to explain what's going on in a stock, but they're not the reason it's tradable – instead, it all comes down to supply and demand for shares.

  That $37.50 resistance level is a price where there has been an excess of supply of shares; in other words, it's a place where sellers have been more eager to step in and take gains than buyers have been to buy. That's what makes a breakout above it so significant -- the move means that buyers are finally strong enough to absorb all of the excess supply above that price level. Don't be early on this trade.

5 Best Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2014: Verifone Systems Inc.(PAY)

Verifone Systems, Inc. designs, markets, and services electronic payment solutions in North America and internationally. It provides system solutions, including countertop electronic payment systems that accepts magnetic, smart card, contactless/ radio frequency identification(RFID) cards, and near field communication(NFC) enabled mobile phones; secure PIN pads that support credit and debit transactions; and wireless system solutions that support Internet protocol-based code division multiple access, general packet radio service, bluetooth, and wireless fidelity technologies. The company also offers products for consumer-activated functionality at the point of sale; contactless/NFC payment solutions consisting of contactless readers primarily for consumer-activated transactions with contactless cards, tokens, and NFC-enabled mobile phones; and Gemstone family of products comprising integrated electronic payment systems for petroleum companies. In addition, it provides serv er-based payment processing software and middleware; unattended and self-service payments hardware and software integration modules, such as vending machines, ATMs, ticketing kiosks, petroleum dispensers, public transportation turnstiles and buses, self-checkout, bill payment, and photo finishing kiosks; retail bank branch solutions; mass transportation solutions; and network access solutions. Further, the company offers client services, customized application development, advertising publishing, taxi payments and advertising, cardholder data security, annual software maintenance program, and repair services. It serves financial institutions, payment processors, petroleum companies, large retailers, taxi fleets, government organizations, healthcare companies, independent sales organizations, and advertisers. The company was formerly known as VeriFone Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to VeriFone Systems, Inc in May 2010. VeriFone Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Tuesday

  Earnings Expected: The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: BONT), American Eagle Outfitters, Inc (NYSE: AEO), Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS), Verifone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY), Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) Economic Releases Expected: Indian trade balance, German trade balance, British industrial production, British manufacturing production

  Wednesday

• [By Wallace Witkowski]

  VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY) �shares fell 4.8% to $23.80 in heavy volume after the card-payment machine company�� forecast profit for the fiscal first quarter dropped short of the analyst consensus.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Finally, outside the Dow, VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY  ) plunged more than 20% after missing earnings expectations, and issuing poor guidance for the current quarter. Given the huge potential that the company has in expanding into mobile payment systems, VeriFone has thus far failed to deliver on its promise, and investors clearly don't believe that the company's turnaround efforts are likely to succeed amid huge amounts of competition in the space.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Wednesday, VeriFone Systems (NYSE: PAY  ) will release its latest quarterly results. With its stock having plunged after giving troubling guidance back in February, the payment processor has something to prove to investors in this quarter's report.

Top 10 Media Stocks For 2014: Connecticut Water Service Inc. (CTWS)

Connecticut Water Service, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a regulated water company in Connecticut. It operates in three segments: Water Activities, Real Estate Transactions, and Services and Rentals. The Water Activities segment supplies drinking water. The Real Estate Transactions segment involves in the sale or donation of its real estate holdings. The Services and Rentals segment provides contracted services to water and wastewater utilities and other clients, which include contract operations of water and wastewater facilities; Linebacker, an optional service line protection program that comprises repairing or replacing leaking or broken water service line, curb box, curb box cover, meter pit, meter pit cover, meter pit valve, and in-home water main shut off valve before the meter; and providing bulk deliveries of emergency drinking water to businesses and residences through tanker trucks. This segment also engages in leasing and renting residential and c ommercial properties. As of December 31, 2009, Connecticut Water Service, Inc. served 88,534 customers in 54 towns in Connecticut. The company was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Clinton, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Dittman]

  Note that water utilities and UF Portfolio Holdings American Water Works Co Inc (NYSE: AWK), Aqua America Inc (NYSE: WTR) and Connecticut Water Service Inc (NSDQ: CTWS) posted 2013 total returns of 16.1 percent, 18.8 percent and 23.1 percent, respectively, underperforming the broader S&P 500 but besting the traditional safe-haven subgroups.

• [By David Dittman]

  Answer: Our favorite water utilities–American Water Works, Aqua America Inc (NYSE: WTR), Connecticut Water Service Inc (NSDQ: CTWS)–are solid dividend growers throughout the cycle, and they all have pretty good growth prospects because of the abundance of small-scale municipal water utilities in their footprints.

5 Best Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2014: Omnicom Group Inc.(OMC)

Omnicom Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides advertising, marketing, and corporate communications services. It offers services in traditional media advertising, customer relationship management, public relations, and specialty communications groups. The company?s services include advertising, brand consultancy, corporate social responsibility consulting, crisis communications, custom publishing, database management, digital and interactive marketing, direct marketing, directory advertising, entertainment marketing, environmental design, experiential marketing, field marketing, financial/corporate business-to-business advertising, graphic arts, healthcare communications, and instore design. Omnicom Group also offers investor relations, marketing research, media planning and buying, mobile marketing services, multi-cultural marketing, non-profit marketing, organizational communications, package design, product placement, promotional marketing, public affairs, public relations, recruitment communications, reputation consulting, retail marketing, search engine marketing, and sports and event marketing services. It offers its services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The company was founded in 1944 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Hill]

  Hertz (NYSE: HTZ  ) dips on good-not-great earnings. Candian retailer Hudson's Bay buys Saks (NYSE: SKS  ) for $2.4 billion. Wynn Resorts' (NASDAQ: WYNN  ) second-quarter profit gets hit with one-time charges. Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC  ) merges with Publicis Group to form the world's largest advertising and marketing firm. In this segment from Investor Beat, Motley Fool analysts Bill Barker and Andy Cross discuss four stocks making moves on Tuesday.

• [By Geoff Gannon] ��of course ��Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B). There is nothing wrong with owning huge stocks. There is something wrong with spending a lot of time picking them.

  The best way to own huge stocks is to own an index fund. You only need one. So go with the S&P 500. Mutual funds are mostly a waste of time. There are a couple ��like Fairholme ��that really do make big, concentrated bets that don�� mirror index funds. And there are some other funds ��like Hussman Strategic Growth and Third Avenue Focused Credit ��that are structured to do something other than chase an index. I�� not sure those funds will perform well. I am sure they will give you diversity. They��l actually add something to your account ��beyond most mutual funds.

  The biggest problem for most investors is bad timing. They are greedy when others are greedy and fearful when others are fearful. That�� a problem no matter what you invest in. It�� a problem in an index fund. It�� a problem in a mutual fund. And it�� a problem in a stock. The biggest challenge for most investors is getting over that. If you can be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy ��you can make money in index funds, mutual funds and individual stocks. If not, you will always underperform the assets you invest in.

  Can you do any better than that though? Can you actually improve on an index�� performance through stock picking?

  Sure. And it�� not that hard. There are many strategies that outperform indexes. I��e mentioned a few before. I will once again mention an insanely simple one that will tend to work over time.

  Rule #1: Never pay more than 8 times EBITDA for a stock.

  Rule #2: Never buy a stock that has lost money in any of the last 10 years.

  Rule #3: Never sell a stock within the first year of buying it.

  Rule #4: Hold 10 stocks.

  Rule #5: Hold the stocks with the longest history of consistent profits.

  This is a ve

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.80 per share on revenue of $3.48 billion.

  Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) is projected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.34 per share on revenue of $336.48 million.

• [By Sue Chang and Ben Eisen]

  OMC: An announcement by European Union regulators cleared the way for advertising powerhouses Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) �and rival Publicis Groupe SA (PUBGY) (PGPEF) � (FR:PUB) to merge. The combined firm is expected to be the world�� largest advertising agency. Shares of Omnicom Group were up 1.4%.

5 Best Information Technology Stocks To Invest In 2014: Fuel Systems Solutions Inc.(FSYS)

Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. engages in the design, manufacture, and supply of alternative fuel components and systems for use in the transportation, industrial, and power generation markets worldwide. Its components and systems control the pressure and flow of gaseous alternative fuels, such as propane and natural gas used in internal combustion engines. The company offers a range of fuel delivery components, including pressure regulators, fuel injectors, flow control valves, and other components to control the pressure, flow, and/or metering of gaseous fuels; electronic controls comprising solid-state components and proprietary software that monitor and optimize fuel pressure and flow for engine requirements; and gaseous fueled internal combustion engines that are integrated with its fuel delivery and electronic controls. It also provides systems integration support and engineering services to integrate the gaseous fuel storage, fuel delivery, and/or electronic control c omponents and sub-systems; auxiliary power systems for truck and diesel locomotives; and natural gas compressors and refueling systems for light and heavy duty refueling applications. In addition, the company designs, assembles, and markets ancillary components for systems operation on alternative fuels. It sells its transportation products primarily to automobile manufacturers, taxi companies, transit and shuttle bus companies, and delivery fleets; and industrial products principally to manufacturers of industrial mobile equipment and stationary engines through a network of distributors and dealers, as well as through a sales force that develops sales with distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and end-users. Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1958 and is based in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By David Goodboy]

  Another top company in the alternative-to-gasoline space is Fuel Systems Solutions (Nasdaq: FSYS).  

  Fuel Systems specializes in components and system controls that manage the pressure of fuels such as propane and natural gas. Launched in 1958, the New York-based company is far from a startup. It boasts a $400 million plus market cap, a price-to-sales ratio of 1.0 and a price-to-book ratio of 1.3. 

• [By Lisa Levin]

  Fuel Systems Solutions (NASDAQ: FSYS) shares reached a new 52-week low of $10.735 after the company reported downbeat Q4 results.

  China Ceramics Co (NASDAQ: CCCL) shares fell 2.40% to touch a new 52-week low of $1.63. China Ceramics shares have dropped 35.27% over the past 52 weeks, while the S&P 500 index has gained 19.70% in the same period.

3 Homebuilders Building on Solid Foundations

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Despite a good earnings report by Lennar (LEN) last week, homebuilders remain cautious about the housing market.

It seems there's more to that caution than just a chilly winter. Homebuilders are having trouble finding buildable lots and skilled workers. Many have tempered their sales expectations for the next six months.

Investors, take notice.

The housing market isn't firing on all cylinders. Any investments at the moment should be made with care. Although there are better industries to be investing at the moment — banking and casinos are two names that come to mind — these three homebuilders are worth serious consideration.

Homebuilders to Buy: KB Home (KBH)

KB Home (KBH) delivered its first Q1 profit since 2007 last week on the back of strong price increases across all four of its regions. Chief among the increases was its West Coast region which saw the average sale price increase 30% year-over-year to $525,000. The bad news is that only 346 homes were delivered on the West Coast in Q1 compared to 509 a year earlier.

That decline would be killer if you didn't look more closely at its backlog. The West Coast's average selling price on the 580 homes still to be built is $567,000 — $159,000 higher than the backlog from a year ago. The West Coast is generating more revenue from less homes. That's a problem homebuilders can live with. KBH stock will benefit down the line should the company move all of its backlog through the pipeline.

In 2013, KB Home delivered its first annual profit since 2006. Back then, its book value was $3 billion, more than double today's market cap and six times its current book value. Those were clearly better days. However, its Q1 2014 adjusted housing gross margin of 17.8% — 260 basis points higher than Q1 2013 — is a sure sign its business is improving on the West Coast where it generates more than 40% of its overall revenue.

As California goes, so goes KBH stock. Should KBH's adjusted housing gross margin hit 20% in 2014 along with a 12% selling, general and administrative margin, KBH's bottom line profit should be greater than $100 million come the end of November.

If so, you could value KBH stock at $2 billion or more. With KBH stock down 19% over the past 52 weeks, I like its chances of reversing that trend.

Homebuilders to Buy: Lennar (LEN)

You usually can't go wrong betting on the biggest operators in any industry. New home development is no different. If its Q1 results are any indication, Miami-based Lennar (LEN) is a good bet when it comes to housing.

Although there are indications things might not be so cheery in housing right now, CEO Steve Miller believes the industry is heading in the right direction, stating:

"Although it is still too early to predict the strength of the spring selling season, we are optimistic that the housing market is continuing to recover, and that the fundamental drivers of that recovery remain intact. We believe that the housing market is still in the early stages of recovery."

That's good news for LEN stock and all the other homebuilders.

Lennar's Q1 earnings before interest and taxes increased 65% to $165 million on $1.36 billion in revenue. That's an EBIT margin of 12.1%, a full two percentage points higher than in the same period a year earlier. Drivers of this margin expansion include an 18% increase in average sales price combined with increased deliveries in five of its six operating regions.

Its western region (California, Nevada) experienced large increases in both the number of homes delivered and the average price paid for those homes. The West contributed 27% of the 3,609 homes delivered by Lennar in Q1, and while the improvement in California is impressive, the East is where its future revenue generation lies, with 39% of its backlog in seven states up and down the Atlantic. With all the excitement on both coasts, investors can expect Lennar to generate more than $1 billion in operating income in fiscal 2014, something it hasn't done since 2005.

Whatever happens in the next three quarters, you can rest assured that Lennar is going to be one of the main beneficiaries of any spring thaw. LEN stock, like most homebuilders, hasn't done well in the past year. Given its strong earnings, I don't see any reason why that can't change as we move into the summer selling season.

Homebuilders to Buy: PulteGroup (PHM)

KeyBanc analyst Kenneth Zener downgraded LEN stock from buy to hold in early March. At the same time, the analyst upgraded PulteGroup (PHM) from hold to buy citing its measured growth combined with an attractive valuation as reasons for buying PHM stock.

Zener believes "defensive" investors will find PulteGroup's focus on "profitability over volume" very attractive at a time when gains in home prices are likely to slow considerably. For those not as confident about the near-term future of homebuilders, owning PHM stock could be the safest play at the moment.

Nothing in PHM’s 10-K jumps out at you when it comes to top-line revenue. Its average selling price increased 11% in 2013 to $305,000 while the number of closings increased by 1,261 units or 7.6%. The combination of these two numbers produced an increase in home sale revenue of $872 million or 19%.

While that home sale revenue is solid, its 430 basis point increase in adjusted home sale gross margin is what made the difference in 2013. In fact, its 23.2% home sale gross margin in the final quarter of 2013 was the highest it has been on a quarterly basis since 2005. This achievement allowed it to generate a pre-tax profit of $528 million in 2013, 187% higher than in 2012. As a result, it retired $461 million in debt and sits with a debt-to-capitalization rate of 31% compared to 53% at the end of 2012.

PulteGroup, as Zener describes, is a good bet if you're not sure that 2014 will be a banner year for new home construction. Of the big homebuilders, PHM stock is the most conservatively financed of the bunch while its valuation (EV/EBITDA) is also the least expensive. For these two reasons, I would recommend PHM stock over both Lennar and KB Home.

As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not own a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Fatal Cobalt crash suit to test GM liability…

The families of two Wisconsin teenagers who died in a 2006 accident while passengers in a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt have sued General Motors in a Minnesota court, setting the stage for what could be a test case in challenging the automaker's legal shield against pre-bankruptcy liabilities.

The crash — which killed 18-year-old Natasha Weigel and 15-year-old Amy Rademaker, and left 17-year-old driver Megan Ungar-Kerns with brain damage — occurred after the Cobalt's ignition switch abruptly turned off, a defect that is now the subject of a recall involving 1.6 million GM vehicles.

When the ignition switch turned off, the Cobalt lost power steering, braking and airbags before slamming into a telephone pole box and two trees, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed in a Minnesota District Court, targets GM and the Minneapolis dealership that sold the vehicle, Rosedale Chevrolet, seeking damages of more than $50,000.

It comes as the U.S. Justice Department, a Congressional subcommittee and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have launched investigations into GM's handling of the crisis.

The suit alleges GM committed fraud by failing to disclose the ignition switch defects before February 2014, when it first publicly acknowledged an issue.

The defects were "knowingly, intentionally and fraudulently ignored and intentionally kept secret from the public," according to the lawsuit.

GM CEO Mary Barra, who took the job in January, has ordered an "unvarnished" internal report on what happened, apologized for the accidents and plans to testify before Congress on April 1. The automaker has not signaled whether it would seek to settle lawsuits or fight them.

Some bankruptcy experts say the families have no legal recourse because their accident occurred before GM's Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, which provided legal protection from pre-bankruptcy liabilities.

Still, legal experts say GM may be obligated to compensate victims from pre-bankruptcy cra! shes if the victims can prove GM did not disclose its knowledge of the defects while it was navigating bankruptcy.

Natasha Weigel and Amy Rademaker were killed in this 2006 crash of a Chevrolet Cobalt in Wisconsin.(Photo: St. Croix County (Wis.) Sheriff's Dept via Hilliard Munoz Gonzales)

Tbe lawsuit alleges that GM, which was aggressively cutting costs in an attempt to avoid insolvency in the years leading up to its bankruptcy, "elected to preserve its cash rather than preserve the lives of its vehicle owners."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jayne Rimer and Doug Weigel as co-trustees for Natasha Weigel, Margie Beskau as trustee for the heirs of Amy Rademaker, and Megan Phillips.

The suit was filed by a group of attorneys that includes Hilliard Munoz Gonzales, the Corpus Christi, Tex., law firm which is representing family members who lost 10 loved ones. Four of those cases occurred before GM filed for bankruptcy in May 2009.

Attorney Robert Hilliard said on Wednesday that he believes GM still may consider settling pre-bankruptcy cases to avoid negative publicity.

"There are certain cases where liabilities prior to bankruptcy are – I don't know the right word – they're with the previous company," Barra told reporters earlier this week. "But I would say right now, our focus 100 percent is on the customers, on fixing their vehicles – getting the parts, fixing their vehicles and supporting them through that process."

U.S. Court Ruling Weighs on MasterCard, While Ford Ponders Production Cut in Russia

In May, I announced my intention to create a portfolio that embodied life's basic needs. To that end, over a period of 10 weeks, I detailed 10 diverse companies that I think will outperform the broad-based S&P 500 over a three-year period because of their ability to outperform in both bull markets and bear markets, as well as their incredible pricing power in nearly any economic environment.

If you'd like a closer look at my reasoning behind each selection, just click on any, or all, of the following portfolio components:

Waste Management  Intel  NextEra Energy  MasterCard  Chevron  Select Medical  Ford  American Water Works  Procter & Gamble  AvalonBay Communities

Let's look at how our portfolio of basic-needs stocks has fared since we began this experiment.

Company

Cost Basis

Shares

Total Value

Return

Waste Management	$42.60	23.24	$946.57	(4.4%)
Intel	$23.22	42.64	$1,073.25	8.4%
NextEra Energy	$87.94	11.26	$1,064.86	7.5%
MasterCard	$64.557	15.30	$1,162.65	17.7%
Chevron	$124.95	7.93	$916.95	(7.5%)
Select Medical	$8.96	110.49	$1,287.21	30%
Ford	$17.50	56.57	$875.14	(11.6%)
American Water Works	$43.13	22.96	$1,034.58	4.5%
Procter & Gamble	$81.29	12.18	$948.58	(4.2%)
AvalonBay Communities	$133.95	7.39	$959.52	(3.1%)
Cash			$0.88
Dividends receivable			$198.74
Total commission			($100.00)
Original Investment			$10,000.00
Total portfolio value			$10,468.93	4.7%
S&P 500 performance				9.2%
Performance relative to S&P 500				(4.5%)

Source: Yahoo! Finance, author's calculations.

The Basic Needs Portfolio only managed about a 0.3% gain for the week, which wasn't quite enough to keep pace with the S&P 500. However, given that this is a portfolio geared for long-term outperformance, as long as we're heading in the right direction I'm not too concerned.

In terms of news-driven events we had a little bit of everything, but as always we'll start with the latest dividend updates.

Show me the money!
Starting us off this week is refuse and recycling giant Waste Management (NYSE: WM  ) , which on Friday divvied out $0.375 per share to investors, a $0.01 jump from its payout in the previous quarter. Waste Management's business has been hit recently by weaker commodity prices that hurt its recycling margins, along with consolidation in the refuse business which is also pressuring margins. However, as the clear market-share leader in refuse, a necessity-based business, it continues to wield impressive pricing power that can be used to slowly grow its bottom line. Waste Management's 3.6% yield should remain an attractive lure for income-seeking investors.

Meanwhile, chipmaking giant Intel (NASDAQ: INTC  ) is getting ready to put some money in investors' pockets. On Wednesday, Intel declared a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share -- consistent with its previous payout -- that will be payable on June 1 to shareholders of record as of May 7. Intel is going through a major transition as its PC-processing division shrinks that has required it to devote billions to researching and developing mobile and cloud-based products. Thankfully, because it holds such dominant share in the PC-processing industry, it has been able to rely on beefy margins and tighter cost controls to easily fuel a bountiful payout. I'd be surprised if Intel were unable to move this payout up to $1 on an annual basis within the next two years.

Capping profits
Shares of payment processing facilitator MasterCard (NYSE: MA  ) swooned on Friday after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a 2011 ruling by the Federal Reserve on the maximum fees that debit facilitators could charge per debit-card transaction. According to the ruling, debit-card fees will be capped at $0.21 per transaction, as well as a few additional cents in some cases to cover the potential for fraud. There is still the opportunity for credit payment facilitators to appeal this decision, which seems like a given considering that debit-card growth has soared with underbanked consumers following the recession. In addition, the Fed itself may need to redo its calculations and ensure that $0.21 is the appropriate fee cap. I don't view this as particularly damaging to MasterCard, given that rival Visa has the larger U.S. debit-card market share, and continue to believe that emerging market growth is what investors should be eyeballing.

Sanctions hit home?
Following through on their threats, the United States and the EU imposed additional sanctions on Russia last week after it officially annexed Crimea from Ukraine. As part of those economic penalties, automaker Ford (NYSE: F  ) is considering whether to reduce or halt production at a plant near St. Petersburg that makes the Focus and the Mondeo. Russia has been a hotbed growth opportunity for Ford, but with China outperforming and the European market finally rebounding, I don't see these sanctions against Russia affecting the automaker's bottom line in a significant way. It's certainly a situation to watch, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Construction delay
Finally, on Thursday residential real estate investment trust AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB  ) reported that its AVA Theater District project in Boston had suffered a partial collapse during construction. The community had been scheduled to open for occupancy in the third-quarter of 2015, but will likely be pushed out one or two quarters, according to analysts at Wells Fargo. While this isn't good news, like the aforementioned MasterCard and Ford stories it's not devastating, either. AvalonBay ended the year with 81,522 apartment homes across 12 states and the District of Columbia, meaning it has plenty of avenues to boost occupancy and rent rates in the meantime. With lending rates potentially set to rise sooner rather than later, residential REITs such as Avalon look to be in great shape.

If dividends are your thing, then you have to check out these nine high-yielding selections from our analysts
One of the dirty secrets that few finance professionals will openly admit is the fact that dividend stocks as a group handily outperform their non-dividend paying brethren. The reasons for this are too numerous to list here, but you can rest assured that it's true. However, knowing this is only half the battle. The other half is identifying which dividend stocks in particular are the best. With this in mind, our top analysts put together a free list of nine high-yielding stocks that should be in every income investor's portfolio. To learn the identity of these stocks instantly and for free, all you have to do is click here now.